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St. Paul budget trims about 36 FTEs; city says vacancies will close gap without layoffs
Summary
The proposed 2026 budget removes roughly 36 full-time equivalent positions, mostly by not backfilling roles as employees naturally leave. City officials said no current employee will be laid off and that details on which positions will be left vacant will be provided in departmental briefings.
Madeline Mitchell, the city’s budget manager, told the Finance and Budget Committee the 2026 proposed budget funds 3,181.7 FTEs, a net decrease of about 36.4 or 1.1% from 2025, and that “a significant number of those positions, 42.73, were removed to help balance the general fund budget.”
Mitchell said vacancy management is a deliberate strategy: where positions are left vacant “following natural turnover,” the city will not backfill them and work will be reassigned to avoid layoffs.
Council members pressed for more detail. Council President Maker asked whether “natural turnover” meant the city had received notice from incumbents or was estimating attrition; Mitchell replied the approach relies on historical turnover patterns for certain titles and that “as somebody leaves those positions, they won't be backfilled.”
Council Member Johnson requested an explicit list of which positions will be left open and their classifications so council offices can evaluate service impacts. Mitchell said those lists have been provided previously and will be re-sent to council inboxes; the committee also requested departments present the specific staffing impacts when they make their individual budget briefings.
The budget also includes a small number of new general-fund-supported positions: two data-practices FTEs and one revenue-supported cannabis administration position, which Mitchell said are reflected as additions in the general fund.
