Abilene city: 2026 budget discussion trudges on

The Abilene City Commission during its Sept. 8 regular meeting pushed back approving the city’s 2026 budget until its next meeting.

The commission wants to hear from the public as to whether the city should cut out two police officer positions and a general maintenance position. All three roles are currently empty or covered by current staff.

After two public hearings involving the budget and mill levy, the commission voted 4-1 to approve the 2026 mill levy to exceed the revenue neutral rate with Commissioner John Kollhoff being the dissenting vote.

The commission then voted to table the 2026 budget to its next meeting, with Commissioner Amy Meysenberg voting no.

Kollhoff proposed some budget cuts to bring the 2026 mill levy to revenue neutral.

First, he suggested eliminating three po