Committee preliminarily approves Community Health & Safety FY26 budget; homelessness, senior services and recreation highlighted

Finance Committee preliminarily approves Community Health & Safety budget after a wide‑ranging presentation on services, capacity and risks.

The Finance Committee on April 25 voted to give preliminary approval to the Community Health & Safety Department’s FY26 budget after Director Henry Hammond Ball and Deputy Director Maria Sanchez Tucker outlined needs and program priorities across libraries, senior services, recreation and youth and family services. The department requested larger staffing capacity for homelessness work, improvements to senior and youth facilities, and investments in data and program evaluation.

Director Hammond Ball said the department’s total proposed FY26 budget is roughly $41.25 million, with 226 positions (201.5 FTE) and roughly 40 vacancies. He said community services (centralized administration) supports libraries, recreation and senior services and that he is focusing personally on homelessness response and emergency management. The presentation noted that budgets were prepared using a three‑year average and that accounting changes affecting transfers may affect year‑to‑year comparisons.

Libraries: The department proposes to maintain three libraries, expand digital access and continue planning a Midtown (Fogelson)…