Charlotte council takes straw votes on FY2026 adjustments, approves ARPA grants and manager direction

Charlotte City Council members held a straw‑vote session to consider amendments to the city manager’s proposed FY2026 budget and approved several one‑time allocations and directions for staff.

The council approved a $1.2 million, one‑time ARPA allocation recommended by the Budget, Governance and Intergovernmental Relations (BGR) Committee for proposed “financial partners” (the organizations listed on the committee’s slide 8), and separately approved a $300,000, one‑time ARPA disbursement to Helping Hands Foundation to help residents with delinquent water bills. Members also authorized the city manager to pursue alternative arts‑specific funding for a requested exhibit at the Charlotte Museum of History, rather than automatically allocating ARPA funds.

Why it matters: The votes reallocate federal ARPA funds and set staff direction ahead of the council’s formal FY2026 budget ordinance, which the council directed the manager to prepare for a future business meeting. The decisions will change how the remaining ARPA balance is available for other one‑time requests and influence which organizations receive immediate one‑time support.

What the council decided

- Financial partners (slide 8): The BGR committee presented a consolidated list of organizations that had applied and completed the financial partner process. Temple Osmara, speaking for the committee, said, “This is a comprehensive list of all the partners that were raised on May 19 and we approved this list at our meeting earlier today.” Councilmember James Mitchell moved to accept the committee recommendation; the motion passed (hand vote recorded in the meeting). The committee’s package calls for $1,200,000 in one‑time funding to come from ARPA.

- Helping Hands Foundation (water‑bill assistance), $300,000 (one‑time ARPA): Councilmember Renee Johnson raised the request coming from community members and Charlotte Water leadership. Charlotte Water Director Angela Charles described the nonprofit’s proposed role as a coordinator for existing community assistance programs: “There are many resources in the community ... The objective of Helping Hands is to streamline getting to those resources.” The council approved the $300,000 one‑time award from ARPA in a straw vote.

- Charlotte Museum of History exhibit, up to $350,000: Council discussion emphasized that the exhibit is tourism‑oriented and could fit arts/culture funding streams. Councilmember Marcia (Molina) asked staff to look for alternatives to ARPA, and a motion to authorize the city manager to seek arts/infusion/convention‑related funding sources for the exhibit (rather than commit ARPA immediately) carried. Manager Marcus Jones said staff would explore infusion fund leftovers and convention center/tourism funding as possible sources.

- NAACP national convention (July event) — $200,000 (one‑time ARPA, proposed match by county): Councilmembers discussed projected economic impact estimates provided in the packet. Several councilmembers characterized the request as a tourism/convention opportunity; staff advised the council that ARPA could be used as a backstop while staff confirms convention‑fund eligibility with the CRVA. The council approved the allocation in a straw vote and noted the county indicated it would match the requested amount.

- Additional ad requests and failed proposals: Several proposed add‑backs were discussed. Two ad motions to increase funding for DreamKey Partners and Roof Above to meet their full requests were offered but did not gain majority support when combined in late votes. A proposed external oversight/consultant contract (to track small‑business participation on the Bank of America Stadium project) was discussed and failed in the vote. Council also debated pay‑related items (a staff support fund proposal and a request tied to health‑insurance offsets for public safety); some items were retained for the manager’s budget work and others were removed after legal/HR analysis.

Process and next steps

Council directed the city manager to prepare the necessary documents and resolution language to incorporate the approved adjustments into the FY2026 budget ordinance and return for final action at the scheduled business meeting. Manager Marcus Jones confirmed staff will identify alternative funding sources for items where council requested that work and will include the approved one‑time ARPA allocations in the draft ordinance.

Quotes from the meeting

“This is a comprehensive list of all the partners that were raised on May 19 and we approved this list at our meeting earlier today.” — Temple Osmara, Budget Governance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee chair.

“There are many resources in the community ... The objective of Helping Hands is to streamline getting to those resources.” — Angela Charles, Charlotte Water director.

“We had two criteria … the first criteria being scoring, the second criteria being not 30% of the budget ... I am not going to be able to support some of the recommendations even though some that were recommended are … I have to stick to what I initially said.” — Councilmember Mayfield (explaining why she opposed parts of the committee package).

Context and budget numbers mentioned

- ARPA remaining for reallocation referenced repeatedly as approximately $5.3 million (staff framed many of the one‑time requests as drawing from that remaining ARPA balance). The committee package specified $1,200,000 in one‑time ARPA funding to cover the recommended financial partners on slide 8. Helping Hands asked for $300,000 one‑time ARPA funding. The Charlotte Museum of History exhibit ask discussed was $350,000; city staff will seek arts/infusion/convention funding first.

Meeting notes

The session was a straw‑vote meeting to refine FY2026 adjustments; formal ordinance language and final budget adoption will return to council in a subsequent business meeting for final votes. Several councilmembers pressed for clearer scoring, vetting and fairness when adding organizations that did not go through the financial partners application process. Staff flagged legal constraints for carving out insurance assistance for specific employee groups and noted some requests would make the budget structurally unbalanced if they were converted from one‑time to ongoing commitments.

Ending

Council members said staff would return with documentation and funding source recommendations for items the council authorized the manager to pursue. The council directed the manager to prepare the ordinance and supporting documents that will go on the next business meeting agenda for final adoption.