Mount Vernon council president urges charter changes to clarify budget process

Council President Danielle Brown told the Mount Vernon Charter Revision Review Commission on Jan. 8 that the city should revise its charter to assign initial responsibility for preparing the annual budget to a single official, tighten timelines and expand community input.

Brown told commissioners she reviewed neighboring municipalities and found that, where a Board of Estimate exists, many cities designate one person — a city manager, budget director or mayor — to prepare the initial draft. “The initial responsibility of the preparation of the budget should come from an individual,” Brown said, adding that the lone preparer is not the only person to see the draft but provides a clear starting point for the process.

Why it matters: Brown and other commissioners said the current charter’s language leaves gaps about who prepares the budget, what happens if the council rejects a proposed budget, and which line items council may change. Brown said the charter’s existing restrictions create confusion during the review period: “We really didn’t have that. It’s not in the current, budget process in the charter,” she said, noting the charter limits the council’s ability to alter certain items such as salaries.

Brown outlined a proposed timetable she recommended the commission study: departments submit estimates by Aug. 31; the board of estimate presents a draft in September (to be treated explicitly as a draft, not a vote-ready document); the controller and the council finance committee provide their calculations and comments by Oct. 15; a proposed estimate would be presented at the last regularly scheduled October meeting; a public meeting would be scheduled no later than Nov. 19; and the board would forward the estimate to the city council by Nov. 23 for the council’s public hearing and adoption.

Several commissioners and city officials responded with questions and qualifications. Commissioner Axel Ebermann said incremental changes risk leaving larger structural problems unaddressed, calling piecemeal fixes “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” Gabriel Thompson said the council already “has literally a seat at the table” on the board of estimate — one of three seats — and that the process has been neglected by elected officials as much as by charter language.

Mayor Shawn Patterson Howard acknowledged past delays in releasing the city’s annual estimate, saying, “I was late with the budget. Right. I was late with the budget. And I have no problem accepting that responsibility.” Several commissioners and staff argued the causes of late or delayed budgets run deeper than the charter, pointing to department-level information flows and past problems with an elected comptroller who did not supply needed data.

Corporation counsel Brian Johnson described prior attempts to enforce compliance through the courts and cautioned that courts have limited ability to run city government. “We got a court order to enforce it. And then when the judge, when she did not comply, the judge basically did not enforce her own order,” he said, recounting the commission’s and administration’s experience with judicial enforcement.

No formal action or vote occurred during the Jan. 8 meeting. The commission chair said members would review Brown’s written proposal and the dates she provided and that the commission would follow up; Brown said she was willing to return for further discussion. “We’ll talk about whether or not, you know, if we have questions, if you’re willing to come and talk about, you know, why you think that’s a good idea,” the chair said.

Ending: The commission did not adopt changes at the Jan. 8 session; members signaled interest in studying Brown’s proposal and the broader option of more systemic charter revisions to improve timelines, accountability and transparency in Mount Vernon’s budget process.