Committee delays vote on budget-publication ordinance; work group to produce additional analysis

The committee voted to continue consideration of an ordinance that would require agency-level budget submissions be published earlier and to produce a side-by-side comparison with the mayor’s proposed budget. The continuation is intended to allow further conversations between council members, administration staff and a newly formed work group before deciding whether to send the ordinance to full council.

Lauren Kirk of the Budget Department told the committee the administration requested a continuance to allow further discussion of how the proposed changes would fit into the city’s broader budget process. Councilmembers discussed the measure at length: supporters said the change is intended to provide council and the public better ‘‘line-of-sight’’ into departmental requests and new funding items earlier in the fiscal cycle; others urged including the measure as part of a broader work program to redesign the annual budget timeline.

Councilmember Carolyn Robertson and other members described plans to form a subcommittee including herself and Vice Chair Jordan (and others) to work with the administration; the committee agreed to a 60‑day continuance to the July 16, 2025 meeting and to provide periodic updates to the full council during the interim. Councilmembers asked the administration to provide concrete timelines and to bring back the ordinance with any inter-departmental changes and an implementation plan that could fit the upcoming budget cycle.

The committee’s continuance preserves the ordinance as a possible amendment to next year’s budget process while the work group studies operational, timeline and legal considerations.