Intergovernmental Relations department eyes small staff cut as 2026 budget falls 2.8%

Katie Topinka, director of the Intergovernmental Relations department, told the Minneapolis City Budget Committee on Sept. 22 that the mayor’s recommended 2026 budget would reduce the department’s budget by 2.81% and remove a seasonal legislative aide position.

Topinka described IGR as a small team that “partners across governments and organizations on behalf of Minneapolis residents and the city enterprise to advance their needs, strengthen collaboration, and create lasting improvements in quality of life.” She said the department currently includes the director, five staff, and an administrative assistant and splits federal, state and regional portfolios across staff.

Topinka told the committee the proposed decrease is largely the result of removing one-time federal-related program funding tied to prior Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) work and aligning base budget categories to reflect rising membership costs for organizations such as the League of Minnesota Cities. “The proposed budget is a 2.81% decrease from last year,” she said.

Under the mayor’s recommendation, IGR’s FTE count would fall from 6.35 to 6. Topinka said the cut is the seasonal legislative aide position, which is only filled during session and therefore would not require layoffs: “The seasonal legislative aide position is only filled during session, so there’s no one in that position right now that we would have to lay off.” She said some weekly session work the aide performed may be shifted to contract lobbyists, government relations representatives and administrative staff and that the department may reduce the newsletter frequency from weekly to biweekly or monthly.

Council members asked for more specificity about how the city’s priorities are developed and communicated to state and federal partners. Council Member Wansley said the city needs clearer and more unified data and priorities when advocating at the Capitol, citing gaps in homelessness counts and requests for homelessness-related funding. “For us to not be on the same page — even the number of unhoused residents on the streets — … we need more clarity of how we do our adoption process of specific IGR amendments,” Wansley said.

Deputy City Operations Officer Laura Melham, who oversees communications and engagement programs that include IGR, told the committee the city is developing survey tools to measure how well departments and partners feel the city’s priorities are understood and supported. Topinka described work this year to preserve local government aid, protect sustainability policies and secure targeted transportation funds, and described a new federal funds working group that meets monthly to track grant issues and information among city departments.

Topinka also flagged staff stress and burnout as a key risk for the unit working in a difficult political environment and described team-level efforts — off-site workshops and regular check-ins — to support employees. Melham noted available employee assistance program resources and said IGR has a seat in the city’s Joint Information Center for emergency events.

The presentation included an organizational and program summary, a description of measurement efforts with the city’s performance team (PMI) and a statement that increased personnel and internal service charges are partly offset by the proposed seasonal aide reduction. Topinka said IGR will continue to rely on contract lobbyists while pursuing opportunities to strengthen federal advocacy through partnerships with organizations such as the National League of Cities.

The Budget Committee filed the presentation for the record following the discussion.