City departments brief council on FY26 proposed budgets; auditor seeks one permanent FTE, IT adds cybersecurity staff and housing highlights shelter expansion

Directors across city departments presented overviews of proposed fiscal year 2025–26 operating and capital budgets and flagged programmatic changes council should note during the budget reconciliation process.

Convention & Visitors Bureau: Nancy Hellman, director, said the CVB has a budget of just over $40 million and about 16 full‑time employees. She said the agency’s funding derives from the general fund and two dedicated tourism streams: the Tourism Advertising Program (TAP) fund and the Tourism Investment Program (TIP) fund. Hellman said the mayor’s advertising advisory committee is planning an additional domestic marketing campaign and that Atlantic Park onboarding and entertainment programming are coming online; she noted a general‑fund allocation increase for police presence at convention center events and a net reduction of 3.72 FTEs funded by the general fund.

Economic development and tourism CIP: Emily Archer, deputy director for economic development, summarized a portfolio of 33 projects totaling about $553.26 million appropriated to date, and said roughly 63 percent of that pipeline is funded by the TIP fund (a dedicated tax on restaurants, hotels, amusements and cigarettes). She noted CIP highlights including Atlantic Park appropriations and Pembroke Square public parking (to be repaid from…