Jackson Finance Committee Meeting – August 19, 2026
Jackson Finance Committee Meeting – August 19, 2026
The Jackson Finance Committee met on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at 11:16 a.m. to deliberate on the FY27 budget. The meeting featured a detailed presentation from Police Chief Brackney regarding the police department's budget options, followed by council discussion on revenue adjustments, expenditure priorities, and asset monetization. The meeting concluded with a motion to enter executive session for personnel and litigation matters.
Discussion Items
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Police Budget Presentation: Chief Brackney presented three budget options for FY27: Option 1 (current state at $37 million, 275 sworn officers, 152 support staff), Option 2 (reduction to 265 sworn officers with 10 sworn positions converted to civilian, personnel services at $26 million), and Option 3 (further cut to 255 sworn officers, personnel services at $25 million). She noted that the department currently has 221 sworn officers and 125 support staff due to vacancies, and that legacy contracts (Axon, Huntington, etc.) and balloon payments due October 1, 2026, increase debt service. She also highlighted unfunded mandates such as animal control and that a $345,000 payment for camera equipment is due soon.
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Council Questions: Councilman Foote expressed concern about sufficient sworn officers for zones and shifts, seeking to ensure coverage without disclosing tactical numbers. Councilman Hartley requested performance indicators and public transparency, noting that CompStat data is posted weekly. The chair proposed lowering revenue projections by over $5 million, citing six overestimated line items (e.g., sales tax from $37.5M to $35M based on historical actuals). He also presented an expenditure wish list including $36.2M for police, $27M for fire, $15M for public works, $11M for legal, $200,000 for human and cultural services, and $87,000 to raise 39 employees to $12/hour—requiring $11.5 million in cuts elsewhere.
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Asset Monetization: Councilman Foote advocated for selling surplus city properties and using proceeds to reduce debt service, noting that JPD's auction contract with VMS (80-20 split after $200,000 recouped by VMS) is unfavorable. He also suggested reinvesting $90 million in general funds into higher-interest accounts to generate an estimated $2 million annually. Councilman Grizzell supported using Grand Gulf evacuation route funds for blight cleanup on Highway 18 and criticized the city's auction contract. The chair noted that GovDeals auction revenue could be increased by listing items more frequently.
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Other Deliberations: Councilman Grizzell suggested reducing administrative overhead by merging departments and using funds elsewhere. The chair proposed moving electric utility bills from planning to public works (no net cost). Discussion also touched on the Modernization Tax bond proceeds (about $32 million remaining for ditch and paving projects) and the $886,000 in a separate Grand Gulf fund that could be returned to the general fund.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken on the budget. The council plans to continue deliberations on Friday, August 21, 2026, with a public hearing scheduled for the following week.
- The council voted unanimously to enter closed session to discuss personnel and litigation matters after correcting the initial motion.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good morning, everybody. We are calling together the finance committee meeting. It is 1116 a.m. on Wednesday, August 19th. Good to have everybody here. This begins our council deliberations. So I'm excited to be here and to kick off this conversation. And I certainly have notes and thoughts that I'd love to discuss, but uh I'll I'll begin by opening it up to um my colleagues. And before I do that, I'll also reiterate you know, when whenever our department heads came, I told them your presentation is done today, but this is not the end of the the journey. And if you have uh thoughts or questions or ideas or or things to share, we welcome you back. So certainly if any department head is interested in in seeking recognition, I'd be happy to hear from them. Um but seeing not in the chamber, we can begin our council deliberations. So Mr. Foo, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Grizzell, Ms. Brown Thomas, um, and I don't believe that 1701 is not Miss Clay, right? Okay. Uh so any of y'all have any opening things to share, and then again, I have some things to discuss as well. Thank you, Mr. President. I just share I the after learning that that our peg crew had a YouTube channel for the city. I went and found it at home and watched some of the last meeting. Uh, you know, and I've realized that we probably need more than just one camera there for to make it as professional as possible because we want to make sure people check it out and stay tuned in. The um, because when everybody stood for the invocation, we couldn't see the the pastor that had come to to provide the invocation. You heard it okay. But so I think uh we need to take full advantage of the of the peg program and the YouTube channel that are going to the trouble of setting up. Um so it may require some additional theatrical um adjustments in our camera placements or whatever. But the um I'm glad we've got it. I didn't even didn't realize until the previous budget hearing that that uh peg had a set up a YouTube channel for the city. Thank you. Yes, thank you. Maybe we can get some lasers and some fog machines. I'm not sure about that. Okay. Uh Mr. Hartley. Yes. Uh thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman. I just want to just recognize uh what what has been going on, and that is uh under your leadership. Everyone has had a voice to speak. Uh ideals are uh being floated around. I think we're getting more and more creative, and I certainly appreciate that. And also a hats off to the administration. Uh I remember three or four years ago, we were back and forth with the administration on how to even see a lot of this information. Now we had unfettered access, and that's gonna help the citizens of Jackson. And I certainly uh I certainly appreciate Mr. Taylorson and the staff and everyone else for opening up and allowing us to be the strongest city we can to be possible, and that is the executive branch and legislative branch getting into the wheeze of this area and working together. So thank you.
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