Detroit budget committee weighs restoring oversight agencies’ proportional funding amid revenue shortfall

The Expanded Budget, Finance and Audit standing committee returned to an executive-session follow-up to review oversight-agency budget requests and a spreadsheet prepared by budget staff, with the central question whether to resume the council's previously approved three-year ramp toward "proportional funding." The administration told members it could not fully restore the increases because general-fund revenues are sharply lower than a year ago.

Why it matters: the proportional-funding ordinance and companion resolution approved last year set targets to raise the city's oversight offices to a specified share of general-fund resources over a multi-year period. Supporters say the ramp protects independent audit, ethics and ombuds services; the administration counters that honoring the ramp in full this year would require recurring cuts across core services while the city absorbs a significant revenue shortfall.

Budget staff presented the baseline and proposed changes. The auditor general's adopted FY26 baseline was shown at about $5.85 million, the ombudsperson about $1.95 million, the office of inspector general about $2.3 million and the board of ethics about $900,000; the administration's FY27 proposed budget reduces those baselines (the auditor general reduction was listed…