Rochester City Council adopts 2025-26 municipal budget after hours of debate, 7-2

The Rochester City Council adopted the city—s municipal budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026, following several hours of debate and a roll-call vote that passed 7-2.

Council member Mitch Gruber, the finance committee chair, said the budget was difficult to assemble this year because the city is winding down federal ARPA funding and faced federal-level uncertainty. "This was a difficult budget year," Gruber said, and he praised the Office of Management and Budget and department staffs for their work.

The vote matters because it sets city spending priorities for the coming year and determines allocations to major programs and services, including public safety, neighborhood services and payments required by state law to the Rochester City School District.

Council members who supported the budget said the document closed substantial gaps without layoffs and preserved many neighborhood and youth programs. "The foundation of it, the fact that we can, hopefully move forward tonight with the majority of council without laying people off, without cutting any services explicitly, it's pretty remarkable," Gruber said.

Opponents said the budget did not go far enough to address poverty, reduce reliance on policing, or fund frontline workers and youth services at the scale needed. Council member Mary Lupien said the budget reduces investments in some youth and violence-prevention programs while increasing police funding and that it does not address a housing crisis or guarantee income pilots she and others support. "We can't sweep poverty aside. We need to invest in our people now," Lupien said.

Other council members urged follow-up work on outstanding issues. Gruber and others noted unanswered operational questions, including how programs initiated with ARPA funds will be sustained now that that funding ends. Several council members who voted yes said they would pursue additional changes or funding adjustments in the coming months, particularly around neighborhood service centers, mental-health responses and code enforcement efforts.

The roll-call vote on Introductory No. 236 (adoption of the municipal budget estimates for fiscal year 2025-26) recorded the following: Yes — Mitch Gruber, Willie J. Lightfoot, Bridget Monroe, Michael A. Patterson, Kim Smith, Vice President Alicia D. Harris, President Miguel A. Melendez Jr.; No — Mary Lupien, Stanley Martin. Motion carries, 7-2.

Council members also discussed the city—s relationship with the Rochester City School District during the budget debate. Council members noted that state law requires a payment to the school district and referenced a $119,000,000 annual obligation; speakers emphasized coordination between the council, the administration and the school board to align city and district services.

The council indicated multiple follow-up items. Finance committee chair Mitch Gruber and other members said they would press administration staff for more detail on how the city will sustain programs previously supported by ARPA and for further work on neighborhood service centers and code enforcement. No additional amendments were adopted on the floor when the budget passed.

Looking ahead, council members who voted yes and no alike said they intend to press for changes in program funding and implementation during the coming fiscal year.