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Council debates procurement equity program funding as finance seeks cuts
Summary
Council members discussed trimming a proposed procurement/diversity program from $400,000 to $200,000, with several advocating a compromise retention of $300,000 so work begun on a disparity study can translate into implementation in 2026.
The council spent substantial time on a proposed procurement and diversity program budgeted in the finance department. Finance staff said a $400,000 allocation had been discussed previously; during the work session staff proposed reducing that to $200,000 to meet near‑term budget reduction targets.
Council members said the disparity study completed earlier this year creates a basis for a program and urged keeping some seed funding to begin implementation. Several council members proposed a compromise to reduce the cut — for example, shifting to $300,000 — so the city could hire a manager to build the procurement program and encourage small and disadvantaged businesses to participate. Finance staff said building a program would require dedicated staffing and implementation time and asked the council to prioritize work after December if it wanted a fully developed plan.
No final decision was made; council members asked staff to return with more detail on a program outline and costs and suggested using one‑time funding or phasing to protect other community services while still meeting levy constraints.
