The Metro Nashville Board of Health heard a finance briefing on the mayor's FY27 budget process, including submission deadlines and the priorities officials will weigh when allocating limited new resources.

Jim Diamond, who delivered the presentation, told board members the online portal for departmental budget improvement requests will open next week and "we have to enter any of our budget modifications for next fiscal year by February 6." He said the mayor's recommended budget is required to be presented to Metro Council on or before May 1 and that council hearings typically run into June.

Diamond said the health department's operating budget is about $128,000,000 and that a major year-to-year swing in the department's funding picture followed the move of school-health funds into the local health budget in FY26. "Local funds were trending upward," he said, but the infusion of school-health dollars changed the department's local-versus-grant mix.

Director Dr. Areola told the board the department will prioritize its improvement requests and tie them to the mayor's stated investment priorities '1 fiscal discipline, employee pay and continuity of services. He said top priority items under consideration include additional positions in the TB elimination program, nursing and x-ray technician roles, MAC positions, food-and-public-facilities inspectors and increased doula funding.

Board members pressed staff for clarity on contractual escalators and whether those increases are automatic. Diamond said the increases are contractual obligations that must be included as investment requests to the mayor's office rather than being handled outside the budget process.

Officials cautioned that the mayor's office characterized the coming year as "tight" because of a recent property reappraisal and a large pay-plan adjustment systemwide. Diamond said departments that can link requests to measurable revenues or performance impacts may have an advantage in the mayor's review.

The board asked staff to circulate the full Excel files and impact statements and confirmed that the department will appear before Metro Council if requested. The finance timeline and the February 6 deadline set the immediate next steps for departmental budget planning.