Budget Advisory Committee moves regular meeting day to Thursdays, schedules reserve-policy review Sept. 4

The Englewood City Budget Advisory Committee voted to move its regular monthly meeting to the first Thursday of each month beginning Sept. 4 and set the September meeting to focus solely on finalizing its reserve policy recommendation to City Council.

Committee members also approved several scheduling and procedural changes aimed at trimming presentation time and improving advance review: moving nonfinancial department overview slides to an appendix, asking departments to submit presentation materials two weeks before meetings, encouraging a target presentation time of about 15–20 minutes, and combining heavier agenda items into single meetings when possible.

The committee approved a motion to combine the Police Department presentation, Public Works presentation and the review of the sales-and-use tax audit into one June meeting to reduce spring schedule congestion. It also agreed to add a second July meeting to help finish the committee's annual report. Separately, the January 1, 2026 meeting was rescheduled to Jan. 15, 2026 to avoid the holiday.

Committee members said the changes are intended to allow more committee discussion time and to give departments clearer direction about what financial information to provide. "I hope that we can have a discussion, today about sort of some of the things that we've discussed previously," said Peter Eckle, Budget Advisory Committee chair, early in the meeting.

James Horan, a committee member, urged consolidation of spring items to avoid stacking heavy agenda items: "Can we not combine those into one of our monthly meetings?" he asked, prompting the committee's June consolidation vote.

Tyson Flower, budget financial analyst, walked committee members through a revised department presentation template that places mission, organization and strategic-plan slides in an appendix so meetings can begin with a department's budget slide and focus on fund balance, accomplishments, challenges and capital priorities. Flower said the operating budget slide will show 2025 estimates and that final numbers will be available in April or May.

The committee also agreed to schedule its capital improvement prioritization discussion earlier in the cycle to give departments and related boards more time; members suggested October or November for the prioritization work so it can feed into the February start of the broader process.

Finance staff told the committee they had made additional adjustments to the proposed budget and were bringing it in at or slightly above the committee's earlier recommendation of a 14.7% reserve. The exact final percentage was described as "a little over 14.7" as staff completed final tweaks.

Logistics changes approved included using the community room (with upgraded equipment) for future meetings to ensure compliance with open meetings laws and to improve remote participation. The committee left other meeting dates and departmental assignments adjustable, with staff asked to coordinate scheduling conflicts and to circulate materials in advance.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve July meeting minutes — moved by James Horan; seconded; outcome: approved (ayes recorded during roll call). - Motion to move regular meetings to the first Thursday of each month beginning Sept. 4 — moved by James Horan; seconded by Peter Eckle; outcome: approved. - Motion to combine Police Department, Public Works and sales-and-use tax audit into one June meeting — moved and seconded on the floor; outcome: approved. - Motion to reschedule the Jan. 1, 2026 meeting to Jan. 15, 2026 — moved and seconded; outcome: approved.

The Budget Advisory Committee asked members to watch the Aug. 4 City Council presentation and to come prepared to treat the Sept. 4 meeting as a single-topic session focused on reserve policy recommendations, including possible austerity options if needed. The committee also agreed to finalize a set of questions that staff will send to departments ahead of presentations to frame discussion around financial metrics and capital priorities.

The meeting adjourned after members signaled broad agreement on the calendar and template changes and thanked staff for incorporating committee recommendations into the current proposed budget.