The Department of Finance presented its 2026 budget briefing Oct. 14, outlining steps to improve revenue collection and vendor payment timeliness while flagging operational impacts from proposed budget reductions.

Finance staff described continued rollout and refinement of a new revenue system and online services. Bureau leaders said the city has converted thousands of filers to the new system (finance reported more than 1,400 business registrations processed through modernized platforms and nearly 5,000 businesses registered on e‑services for online tax filing) and has automated refund requests.

Treasury staff said they are expanding iNOVA cash‑sharing across departments to accept payment options for more city services and aim to add debit and credit capabilities to additional business units, including mosquito control and the public library. Safety and permits was specifically asked about and staff said the interface to accept card payments is in process with ITI but not yet live.

Procurement managers described multiple process improvements: consolidation of 16 separate procurement policies into a single Procurement Policy Manual, expanded intake tracking to show a solicitation’s progress across roughly 15 routing stages (to identify where delays occur), and a micro‑purchase authority for purchases under $10,000 that departments can complete without procurement intervention (procurement reported a 37% productivity gain for such transactions). Procurement also plans to add a vendor performance evaluation form as part of contracting and to publish a 90‑day forecast of upcoming solicitations for vendors.

Finance and procurement leaders said they have integrated Procore with BRASS for construction invoices so programmatic and financial approvals happen in parallel and cited an ADP EV6 payroll upgrade completed in January 2025. They warned that reductions to finance operating budgets could slow vendor payment processing and audit capacity and could delay the financial audit if staffing or operating funds are cut.

Council members asked for lists of key consultant and contract costs and for clearer timelines on bringing payment options online for specific departments; staff agreed to provide a vendor/contract list and timing details.