Finance committee recommends against expanding Financial Advisory Commission duties

The Finance Standing Committee in Annapolis voted on July 2, 2025, to issue an unfavorable committee recommendation on ordinance 12/25, a proposal to expand the Financial Advisory Commission's (FAC) duties to include formal spending-affordability reviews.

Committee members said the proposal would impose additional burdens on a volunteer commission and on city staff and that its timing makes it irrelevant to the fiscal 2027 budget cycle. Finance Committee Chair said the FAC's June 17 letter "support[s] the ordinance with several major reservations and concerns," and emphasized that the commission's role and the ordinance's timing were central to the committee's discussion.

Why it matters: The ordinance would have required FAC input on spending affordability that councilors and staff warned could duplicate the finance director's work and create procedural bottlenecks if not timed or funded properly. Alderman Audra Finlayson said the FAC's volunteer membership and monthly meeting cadence make the proposed workload "a big responsibility" and argued the commission needs staff and funding to perform the additional duties.

During discussion, Finance Director Moran told the committee the finance department lacks the staff capacity to be the primary data source for a statutorily required FAC review, noting that any third-party consultant's output would depend on city-supplied data. Moran said, "We just simply don't have the manpower" to produce the information if the ordinance became a requirement and described the ordinance's current language as "very restrictive" and lacking flexibility for different report outcomes.

Alderman Autumn Roman O'Neil also opposed the ordinance as written, saying mandated reports could become a "bottleneck" in an otherwise evolving budget process. Committee members discussed two amendment recommendations included in the FAC's June 17 letter: one to delay the FAC's first required report until Oct. 1, 2026, and a second making the FAC's obligation to furnish reports contingent on the council's timely appropriation of consultant funds. Chair read both proposed amendments into the record but the committee did not adopt them before moving to the committee recommendation.

Action: Committee members moved and seconded a motion to make an unfavorable recommendation on ordinance 12/25; the motion passed. The committee's unfavorable recommendation goes forward to the full city council for consideration; the full council may vote differently.

The record of committee discussion shows concern about duplication of duties with the finance director, ambiguous references in the ordinance to "administration," and uncertainty whether a consultant would be available or willing to produce city-level analysis. The committee suggested that, if the full council intends to advance the ordinance, the FAC's suggested amendments (delaying the first report and conditioning the FAC's report duties on council appropriation of consultant funds) would address some timing and funding concerns.

The committee did not adopt any amendment on the floor; therefore the committee's unfavorable recommendation is on the ordinance as introduced.