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Votes at a glance: Finance committee forwarded departmental budgets to full council with favorable recommendations
Summary
At the May 8 Finance Committee hearing, the committee voted to forward many departmental FY26 budgets to the full City Council with favorable recommendations. The committee also heard related policy briefing memos (tax/levy scenarios, ERP questions) and public comment on homelessness.
The Finance Committee voted on a sequence of motions during the May 8 meeting to forward individual departmental budgets or groups of departments to the full City Council with a favorable recommendation. Committee members repeatedly approved forwarding the budgets after question-and-answer exchanges with department heads. The motions were procedural recommendations to advance the proposed FY26 departmental appropriations; they did not constitute final budget adoption.
Votes at a glance (selected items from the meeting):
- City Clerk, City Council, Domestic & Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative, Auditing, General Services, Treasury/Revenue, Mayor's Office, Reserve — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Arts Council — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 8 yes, 1 absent.
- Election Commission — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 8 yes, 1 absent.
- Employee benefits (centralized benefits budget) — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 8 yes, 1 absent.
- Equity and Inclusion (Office of) — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 8 yes, 1 absent.
- Executive leadership/strategy team (City Manager's office) — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Tourism (Office for Tourism / TDMD-funded activities) — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 8 yes, 1 absent.
- Communications & Community Engagement — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Housing Liaison / Homelessness supports — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 8 yes, 1 absent.
- Finance Administration — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 6 yes, 3 absent.
- Assessing — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Budget office — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Information Technology (including public-safety IT) — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Purchasing — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Human Resources / Employee services — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 7 yes, 2 absent.
- Law Department — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 6 yes, 3 absent.
- Animal Commission — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 6 yes, 3 absent.
- Community Safety — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 6 yes, 3 absent.
- Emergency Communications (ECC / 911 dispatch) — Motion to forward to full council with a favorable recommendation. Result: 6 yes, 3 absent.
What this means: forwarding a department to the full council with a favorable recommendation advances the proposed departmental appropriation for FY26 to the full City Council for the next stage of review and the council's eventual vote. Several departments were discussed in detail at the hearing; staff and councilors agreed to follow-ups, data requests, and further briefings before the full council acts on the budget.
