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Council refers $1.6M budget amendment to study session after controllers warn of shortfall
Summary
Council referred a proposed budget amendment that would draw roughly $1.6 million from fund balance back to administration and scheduled a study session with Plant Moran and department directors after staff and council raised concerns about overspending and transparency.
Council members referred a proposed budget amendment on Feb. 25 that would draw roughly $1.6 million from the general fund balance to cover year-end shortfalls and approved a separate study session to examine the city’s finances.
Comptroller Shannon Shepherd presented the budget amendment request, explaining the largest portion is proposed to cover overtime and previously approved but unpaid contracts and line-item adjustments. Shepherd told the council the administration’s numbers indicate a shortfall that would require approximately $1.64 million from fund balance to close the current fiscal year. Several council members said they had not received sufficient advance explanation of the shortfall and asked for Plant Moran, the city’s financial consultant, and department directors to appear at a study session to explain the drivers of the gap.
Councilman Robert Constant said the council balanced a budget during the last adoption and had repeatedly warned directors to control overtime and other spending; he said the administration needed to answer how the shortfall occurred and present a corrective plan. Council members asked for detailed line-item information and for Plant Moran to join a public study session to walk the council through the consultant’s analysis.
Instead of approving the amendment on Feb. 25, the council voted to refer the item back to administration and to schedule the study session with Plant Moran and department directors present. The comptroller said the request includes contracts and previously approved items that require budget amendments to be paid this fiscal year; she also said most of the proposed changes reflect timing and carryover of obligations, but the scale of the shortfall requires council-level review.
Ending: The council did not approve the budget amendment on Feb. 25. Administration was asked to return with detailed supporting schedules and Plant Moran will be asked to present at a dedicated study session so the council can consider the request with full context.
