A Buffalo City legislation committee on Tuesday debated a resolution calling for a return to the city's prior budget process, but members tabled the measure after requesting staff produce a spreadsheet comparing the previous approach with the current 49-day timeline.

The resolution, introduced as "resolution requesting return to original budget process," drew lengthy comment from multiple council members on whether the new timetable increased transparency and public participation. One council member asked staff to prepare a spreadsheet showing differences between the most recent budget cycle and the four or five years before it so the committee could compare meeting counts, public hearings and other process metrics.

The debate split members. Council member Bowman said the recent schedule followed past years’ practices and added more time for review: "It would be very similar because we worked to, you know, change the schedule a little bit this year." Council member Ryan argued against returning to the old approach, saying the new timeline should be given more time to work: "We're going to give it another year or two to see how we can make this more transparent and more robust." Majority leader Halton Pope, a sponsor of the legislation that created the new schedule, described the recent process as more deliberate and said the city had attracted public participation on issues such as the 2% tax-cap hearing. Pope said Buffalo currently receives about $161,000,000 in state aid and expects roughly $5,000,000 more in the coming year, which he characterized as small relative to the city's roughly $622,000,000 budget.

Council member Rivera, who said he has voted on 16 budgets over his tenure, argued that each budget year is unique and that the added flexibility provided by the current schedule was valuable when last-minute work or additional amendments are required.

After discussion, the committee voted to table the resolution pending the comparative information requested of staff. Committee members said they wanted factual side-by-side data about prior years' schedules, numbers of public hearings and workshops before making a final decision.

The tabling action means no change to the budget timeline will occur until the committee reviews the staff spreadsheet and holds further discussion. The committee record shows the item will return for consideration once staff provides the requested materials.