Reno Says Its Budget Is “Balanced.” The Real Story Is Much More Complicated.
Reno officials say they have solved a $24 million budget shortfall, but the way the city balanced the books tells a deeper story about Reno’s finances.
Reno officials say they have solved a $24 million budget shortfall, but the way the city balanced the books tells a deeper story about Reno’s finances — and about the difficult choices city leaders are likely to face over the next several years.
At a recent budget workshop, city staff presented a $330 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2026-27 that closes the deficit through a mix of cost-cutting and new fees. On paper, the numbers add up.
But a closer look shows the city is confronting something more serious than a one-year budget gap. Reno is dealing with a structural slowdown in revenue. And the solutions being used now — layoffs, frozen positions, and rising fees — are signals of a tighter financial era ahead.
Click the image to go to the recording of the March 04, 2026, Reno Budget Workshop.
How Reno Closed a $24 Million Gap
The city bridged the deficit through two main steps.
Cost cuts: $19.2 million
New revenue: $5.4 million
The new revenue comes primarily from a Waste Management franchise fee increase approved earlier this year.
But most of the budget fix came from reductions.
Those cuts include:
Eight layoffs
Thirty-six unfilled staff positions
A shift to zero-based budgeting across city departments
When governments rely heavily on leaving positions vacant rather than eliminating programs outright, it usually means something important:
They expect financial pressure to continue for several years.
City Manager Jackie Bryant acknowledged as much during the workshop.
“We’re going to come back to you with some ideas about how we can bolster our financial stability,” Bryant said.
In other words, this is not the end of the budget discussion. It is the beginning.
I wrote about these budget issues in November. They are nothing new. They are not going away. Reno is playing sleight of hand with the budget instead of making real change.
The Quiet Revenue Problem: Consolidated Tax
The underlying issue driving Reno’s budget pressure is something most residents never hear about. It is called the Consolidated Tax distribution, often referred to as C-Tax.
This is a statewide pool of sales tax revenue that Nevada distributes to cities and counties. For years, Reno’s financial projections assumed steady growth in this revenue stream. That growth never materialized.
Finance Director Vicki Van Buren told council members that stagnant C-Tax growth has cost Reno nearly $40 million in projected revenue over the past five years.
And the troubling part is this: City staff does not expect C-Tax to rebound anytime soon.
That means Reno’s financial pressure is not simply the result of one bad year. It is the result of multiple years of slower revenue growth colliding with rising spending.
Public Safety Now Dominates Reno’s Budget
Another reality revealed during the workshop is how much of Reno’s budget is now tied to public safety.
Of the city’s $330 million general fund, about $216 million — roughly 65% — goes to police, fire, and dispatch services.
The breakdown looks like this:
Police Department: $122 million
Fire Department: $84 million
Dispatch: $10 million
Once public safety reaches this level of spending, cities have very little flexibility. Cutting police or fire budgets is politically difficult and often resisted by residents.
So when deficits appear, the cuts tend to happen elsewhere. That is one reason the city is leaving dozens of other positions unfilled.
The Reno government is taking the easy way out by raising fees and cutting services. They are not doing the hard work of reforming their processes.
Reno Is Also Raising Fees
To help stabilize finances, the city is increasing several fees.
These include:
Non-transient motel licensing fees
Fire inspection overtime fees
Charges related to public records requests
One detail that deserves attention involves public records fees.
Under the Nevada Public Records Act, governments are generally limited to charging actual costs associated with producing records — such as paper, postage, or storage media. They are not supposed to use record fees as a revenue source.
Yet city staff acknowledged Reno has been charging fees for redacting body-camera footage, something critics say effectively turns public transparency into a paid service.
This issue has been quietly debated in Nevada for years and may eventually draw closer scrutiny.
I wrote about some real reform ideas back in August. I don’t expect to see any leadership in this area from the current administration.
The Redevelopment Agency Debate
The second half of the workshop focused on something that may shape Reno’s future even more than the general fund.
The Reno Redevelopment Agency (RDA).
After years of limited activity, redevelopment tax increment revenue is beginning to grow again.
For the upcoming fiscal year, the agency expects:
$18.2 million in total revenue
$4.2 million in reserves for RDA 1 (downtown core)
$22.8 million in reserves for RDA 2, which covers areas including Midtown, parts of East Reno, the Grand Sierra Resort corridor, and areas near Boomtown.
City staff received 102 project proposals totaling nearly $300 million in potential redevelopment needs.
The Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board recommended funding about $13.1 million worth of projects, including:
The first phase of the Truckee River Path
Pedestrian improvements near University Village
Lighting improvements in the East Fourth Street Brewery District
But council members were divided on how aggressively to spend the money.
How did we get here? It’s not a secret. You can read the story. It’s an ongoing problem.
Spend Now or Save for Bigger Projects?
The debate revealed two competing philosophies on the council.
Some members, including Devon Reese and Naomi Duerr, argued the city should use redevelopment funds quickly to eliminate blight and improve neighborhoods.
Others, including Meghan Ebert and Kathleen Taylor, urged caution.
They suggested allowing the reserves to grow so the city could finance larger projects in the future.
Ebert noted that RDA reserves currently generate about $700,000 in interest annually, which could grow if the funds are allowed to accumulate.
Taylor added that redevelopment spending should be evaluated based on its ability to stimulate private investment and increase property values.
These debates may become more significant in the coming years.
Redevelopment funds are often one of the few flexible financial tools cities have when general fund budgets tighten.
The Bigger Picture
The city’s budget workshop reveals something important about Reno’s current financial moment. The city is entering a period where financial growth is slowing while spending commitments remain high and are growing.
To close the immediate gap, Reno has:
Cut positions
Increased fees
Relied on one-time adjustments
Those strategies can stabilize a budget in the short term. They are harder to sustain year after year.
That is why city leadership continues to say the work is not finished.
The next phase of Reno’s budget debate will likely revolve around larger questions:
How fast can the city grow its tax base?
How much spending can Reno sustain?
How should redevelopment funds be used?
The answers to those questions will determine whether this year’s balanced budget turns out to be a temporary fix — or the beginning of a longer financial reset.
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Another great article. My question is, how do they plan to increase revenue? Residential development doesn’t and never has paid for itself. Yet they continue to build.
Not sure if it’s possible to amend the charter to require 2/3 voter ratification of any bond issuances, but similar mechanisms have worked in other cities/states. Take away the politicians credit cards.