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Committees approve budget software, reserve‑fund adjustments and several public‑safety grants
Summary
The Budget & Finance and Governance and Public Safety committees approved a set of mostly routine items: committing year‑end reserves, authorizing the OpenGov budget‑software agreement, adopting a scenic‑byway resolution, and approving several homeland‑security and public‑safety agreements.
The Rochester City Council committees approved a series of routine budget and public‑safety items, including a continuing OpenGov agreement, the formal commitment of certain year‑end reserve funds, adoption of a Harriet Tubman Scenic Byway corridor management plan resolution, and several grant agreements through the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
Why it matters: the OpenGov contract keeps the city’s budget book and online tools integrated with Munis for nightly updates and searchable public data; committing year‑end funds clarifies fund‑balance categories; the scenic‑byway resolution is an interjurisdictional nomination that requires additional municipal resolutions to complete the state process; and the public‑safety grants maintain canine detection, technical teams and emergency notification capabilities.
OpenGov and budget transparency: Budget Director Suzanne Warren walked the Budget and Finance and Governance Committee through improvements to the city’s OpenGov implementation, saying the online budget book will present linked tables and allow drilldown to bureau and object‑code detail, with actuals pulled nightly from Munis and annual third‑quarter estimates supplied by the Office of Management and Budget. "It's more efficient for departments to submit their budget to us as well as to produce the actual document," Warren said. The committee then moved and passed the agreement to continue OpenGov; staff said the vendor fee increases are inflationary and nominal.
Reserve funds: The committee approved a motion to move several year‑end balances from a less‑restricted category to a "committed" fund balance for retirement costs and property tax relief. Finance staff explained that open purchase orders and encumbrances increased to approximately $27,800,000, largely because of ARPA encumbrances; pre‑ARPA encumbrances were about $8–9 million. Staff said revenue was budgeted in 2024–25 to offset many of those encumbrances.
Harriet Tubman Scenic Byway resolution: The committee approved a resolution to adopt the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad New York Scenic Byway nomination and corridor management plan; staff said they would follow up with the state about the timeline for full implementation and whether the current state budget includes funding for it.
Public safety grants and agreements: The Public Safety Committee approved the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services agreements for the 2022 Explosive Detection Canine initiative and the 2022 Targeting Technical Team program. It also approved an intermunicipal agreement with Monroe County for administration and enforcement of New York State uniform fire prevention and building codes; the fire department noted a nomination of firefighter Santos Cruz to a governor’s advisory committee on state building codes. The committee also approved an emergency telephone notification system agreement.
Votes at a glance (committee-level approvals described in discussion): - Agenda 01/20 — Commit reserve funds (approved). Staff explained reclassification to committed fund balance; open POs/encumbrances ~ $27,800,000. - Agenda 01/21 — Authorize agreement for budget software (OpenGov) (approved). Budget Director Suzanne Warren presented the OpenGov refresh and nightly Munis integration. - Agenda 01/22 — Resolution: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad New York Scenic Byway nomination and corridor management plan (approved). Staff to confirm state timeline and funding. - Agenda 01/25 — NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services: 2022 Explosive Detection Canine initiative (approved). - Agenda 01/26 — NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services: 2022 Targeting Technical Team program (approved). - Agenda 01/27 — Intermunicipal agreement with Monroe County for enforcement of NY State uniform fire prevention and building codes (approved). Fire Department noted nomination of Santos Cruz to the state advisory committee. - Agenda 01/28 — Emergency telephone notification system services agreement (approved).
Ending: Committee members asked for follow-up on the state timeline for the scenic‑byway implementation and on how often the public accesses the budget website. The administration said it would provide follow-up information and consider public‑facing tutorials or videos once the 2025–26 budget is finalized.
