Overview
Decatur's adopted FY2027 General Fund is balanced at $105,471,464 — up about $4.27 million (4.22% as printed) from the FY2026 original budget of $101,196,910. Sales and use taxes remain the city's dominant revenue at $53,413,000, about half of General Fund revenues; the city levies a 4% sales tax (9% collected in city limits across all governments). Public safety is the largest spending group at $37,794,746, followed by general government at $22,921,630. Citywide, about $61.33 million is budgeted for employee salaries and benefits in FY2027, at an average budgeted cost of $101,910 per full-time employee. The book is explicit that the portion of taxes belonging to Decatur City Schools is not included in the General Fund.
At a glance
General Fund
Adopted FY2027 General Fund revenues and spending both total $105,471,464. The revenue lines below are as printed in the book's trend table, which states figures in thousands; the spending groups below are the book's exact-dollar departmental totals.
| Adopted revenue source | FY2027 |
|---|---|
| Sales & use taxes | $53,413,000 |
| Charges for services | $12,960,000 |
| Licenses & permits | $10,780,000 |
| Other taxes | $9,993,000 |
| Intergovernmental | $5,899,000 |
| Property tax | $5,500,000 |
| Transfers in | $2,910,000 |
| Revenue from money & property | $2,034,000 |
| Other revenues | $1,325,000 |
| Fines & forfeitures | $658,000 |
| Gifts & donations | $0 |
| Printed General Fund total | $105,471,464 |
| Adopted spending group | FY2027 |
|---|---|
| Public safety | $37,794,746 |
| General government | $22,921,630 |
| Public services | $20,060,443 |
| Debt service & financing uses | $10,124,679 |
| Public works | $9,701,369 |
| Community service contracts | $4,300,178 |
| Community development | $568,420 |
| Printed General Fund total | $105,471,464 |
Largest departments inside those groups: Police $20,730,902, Fire $15,579,524, Parks and Recreation $10,353,268, and Miscellaneous $10,022,420. Disclosure — thousands-rounding gap (revenues): the revenue lines above are stated in thousands in the book and sum to $105,472,000, $536 above the book's exact General Fund total of $105,471,464; the printed exact total governs. Disclosure — $1 rounding gap (spending): the spending-group rows sum to $105,471,465, $1 above the printed total; the printed total governs. Disclosure — "proposed" wording inside the book: some interior narrative and tables still carry "proposed" labels carried over from drafting; figures on this page are presented as adopted because the book's title page states "2027 ADOPTED ANNUAL BUDGET REPORT."
Other funds & debt
| Item | FY2027 adopted |
|---|---|
| Other governmental funds: revenues | $5,603,167 |
| Other governmental funds: expenditures | $5,433,803 |
| Board of Education pass-through fund | $31,848,747 |
| Landfill & Recycling enterprise: revenues | $10,672,691 |
| Warrants outstanding, Oct 1, 2026 | $70,160,000 |
Other governmental funds cover the 7-cent, 4 & 5-cent, and Rebuild Alabama gas taxes, the Alabama Capital Improvement Trust Fund, Corrections, Docket Fees, Drug Seizure, Room Occupancy, Opioid Settlement, Personnel Board, and Capital Improvements funds; their revenues exceed their expenditures by $169,364 (the Rebuild fund's $7,000 surplus plus the Room Occupancy fund's $162,364 surplus). Scope — schools: the $31,848,747 Board of Education fund is only the portion of sales, property, tobacco, and PILOT revenue passed through the city to Decatur City Schools; the book states it does not represent the school system's total revenues and expenditures, so it is not added to the General Fund total. Scope — landfill: the Morgan County Regional Landfill and Recycling facility is a 50/50 city-county partnership administered by the city; its revenues are enterprise revenues, not General Fund revenues. The city's 4% sales tax and the TVA payment-in-lieu-of-taxes program are described in the book's revenue narrative.
Sources & notes
- Source used: City of Decatur, Alabama, 2027 Adopted Annual Budget Report, for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026 (official budget book on decatur-al.gov, prepared by the City Finance Department) Read the source document.
- Sum checks: spending groups $37,794,746 + $22,921,630 + $20,060,443 + $10,124,679 + $9,701,369 + $4,300,178 + $568,420 = $105,471,465 ($1 above the printed $105,471,464 — rounding gap disclosed on the page); other-funds revenues $144,000 + $318,700 + $482,000 + $900,000 + $403,799 + $175,700 + $203,000 + $550,000 + $489,350 + $1,326,618 + $610,000 = $5,603,167; other-funds expenditures $5,433,803; difference $169,364 = $7,000 + $162,364.
- Identity: this is the City of Decatur, Alabama (Morgan County seat). Morgan County is a separate government and is not consolidated here.
- Adoption date: UNKNOWN — not stated on the retrieved title pages and not confirmed from council minutes in this pass; re-check route: decatur-al.gov council minutes/agendas, late September 2026. No date is invented on this page.
- Rejected lookalikes: Decatur, Georgia budget/ACFR material (June 30 fiscal year, City Schools of Decatur) and Decatur, Texas fee-schedule items are different governments and were not used.
- Scope gaps: no verified hero photo was confirmed within the photo-attempt cap, so this page has none; no jurisdiction color palette was verified, so this page uses the neutral Hometown Numbers dark-glass theme rather than a jurisdiction color.