Human Relations Commission approves submission of FY26 budget request, highlights language‑access assessment and new positions

The Metro Human Relations Commission voted to approve submitting its FY26 budget request to the mayor’s office and finance staff, commissioners said at their February meeting.

The budget request seeks funding for three new staff positions and additional programming dollars, and includes a one‑time $85,000 request to fund a citywide assessment of language access. Director Tucker said the assessment is tied to the mayor’s budget priorities and would require departments to report current language‑access practices and contracts so the commission can propose an implementation plan.

Why it matters: Commission staff said the language‑access work would create a baseline of what Metro departments already contract for and pay for now, and would inform recommendations about whether and how to centralize or better coordinate language services across departments.

Director Tucker said the mayor’s budget guidance, issued in mid‑January, for the first time highlighted language access as a priority and that “every department has to respond” to that guidance. Mark, who walked commissioners through line‑item questions, said some apparent overages in the financial report were bookkeeping and coding changes that the division of accounts corrected and that the overall burn rate remains within expectations. Mark told the commission, “This 1 is reflective of the change,” when explaining corrected red figures.

Staff said not all costs are yet recorded in the financial report. Two contracts — one for marketing and one for the commission’s documentary project — total about $37,380 and were not yet reflected, Mark said. In addition, he said a pending reclassification process will produce retroactive pay that will add roughly $90,000 to the current fiscal obligations once processed.

The budget request continues a multi‑year ask that began last year. Commissioners were told the three new positions the commission is asking for are: a civic access officer, a position to lead the Humans Over Hate (anti‑hate) initiative, and a director role described in materials as a director of justice/innovation (job title to be finalized within Metro’s job classification system). Staff clarified that Metro’s human resources process requires new positions to be posted using existing city job classifications; the commission will provide concrete project outcomes and a plain‑language description for each requested role to support the mayor’s budget review.

On funding types: staff said the $85,000 for the language‑access assessment would come from the mayor’s 4% one‑time funds (a nonrecurring allocation). Recurring salary and benefit increases requested in the FY26/FY27 plan would become baseline budget items only if the mayor’s office and council approve them.

Commissioners discussed the need to attach measurable outcomes and more concrete job descriptions to the new positions to help defend the request during budget review. Chair Matthew and staff said the commission will prepare the required descriptions and projected outcomes for the mayor’s budget meeting and subsequent council review.

Action: Commissioners moved and voted to submit the budget materials to the mayor’s office and finance by the stated deadline. The motion to submit the FY26 budget request passed (vote tally not specified in the meeting record provided). The commission’s budget meeting with mayoral staff and finance was described as virtual and scheduled before the commission’s next regular meeting.

Ending: Staff said they will circulate the complete budget packet and the organizational chart showing the requested positions and will follow up with commissioners about who can attend the mayor’s budget meeting.