Mayor seeks to add $9 million in capital requests to 2025 appropriations; councilors press for time to review substitute exhibit

The Cleveland Heights Committee of the Whole considered the administration’s request to amend the city’s 2025 Appropriations Ordinance by substituting an updated Exhibit 1 that would add roughly $9 million of capital requests to the administration’s budget package.

The mayor told council that the substitute exhibit would allow the appropriations ordinance to reflect the administration’s complete capital package for 2025 and said council retains full authority to amend any line items. “Council then has the opportunity to amend that legislation in order to reduce, increase any particular line that it wishes,” the mayor said.

Several council members said they had not yet received the substitute exhibit and asked for time to review the detailed spreadsheet of capital projects before a second reading or a committee vote. Councilman Petras said forcing the amendment onto the agenda risked “putting the cart before the horse,” noting finance committee deliberations were ongoing; other members similarly requested the full exhibit and recommended referral back to finance for discussion.

Councilwoman Larson said she would be willing to move forward with an agenda amendment if the substitute exhibit was provided before the next meeting and clarified that the exhibit to be substituted would be Exhibit 1 to the Appropriations Ordinance (the list of funds, departments and objects), not the separate project-level spreadsheet publicly posted. Council recorded multiple follow-ups the mayor agreed to provide the updated exhibit promptly so committees could review the full package.

Committee members also reviewed a list of outstanding budget items the finance committee asked the administration to deliver, including: the revised 2025 budget book by department, actual 2024 year-end fund balances, 2024 capital-project carryovers, unfilled positions and 2024 savings, and journal entries posted to close negative balances. The finance committee planned additional meetings to complete the review.

The committee did not record a final vote on the appropriation substitution in the committee transcript; the mayor said he could withdraw and reintroduce the legislation if council preferred a different process.