Finance committee recommends 10 budget amendments to council, including downtown pledge and ESG passthrough

The city finance committee recommended approval of 10 grouped budget amendments and grant rollovers and forwarded the package to the full city council after a 3-0 roll-call vote.

Speaker 1, who presented the agenda, said Member Memo No. 1 ties actual spending in three accounts (community recovery, the homelessness initiative and affordable housing) to the prior Sept. 30 budget balances and moves a previously approved $150,000 downtown-initiative pledge into this year’s budget so the university partner can be paid. "The coordinator was hired," Speaker 1 said when describing next steps for the downtown initiative partner.

The committee also approved a series of smaller and department-specific items. The police department presented a $35,000 line for furnishings and renovation-related office furniture for its records room and traffic bureau; the police chief said vendors have provided…