Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council receives MPD spending memo; many line‑item questions and requests for follow‑up
Summary
Deputy CFO Jane DeCenzo presented a detailed memo on Minneapolis Police Department 2025 spending including contract totals ($11.3M), travel ($310K), vehicle purchases ($1.7M in 2024–25 non‑replacement vehicles) and variable fringe tied to critical staffing overtime. Council members asked for extensive follow‑up documentation on specific overspent accounts.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer Jane DeCenzo presented a staff memo May 19 in response to a legislative directive asking for a detailed accounting of Minneapolis Police Department spending in 2025. The memo broke out general fund spending versus budget by category and provided tables on vehicles, travel and contractual expenses.
DeCenzo explained that MPD budgets are adopted at department and fund level and that overages in one account can be offset by underspending in another. She identified several items the committee asked to examine further, including capital equipment overages (noting $1.3 million in capital equipment related to command trailers), $310,000 spent on travel in 2025, and $11.3 million in contract spending.
On vehicles, DeCenzo and staff said purchases outside the standard replacement program totaled approximately $1.7 million across the examined years (2024–25). She also noted that some purchases were funded from special revenue/forfeiture funds (12/10 fund), such as motorcycles bought in 2025, and that MPD does not currently have a finance director; many detailed line items will require follow‑up memos.
Council members pressed for clarification on many specific overages: training and travel categories (training was about $602,000 over budget); radio and telephone services (nearly twice budget); repair and maintenance; parking; printing; subscriptions; and the accounting for internal service charges (IT and fleet). Members requested memos that itemize the causes of overspending, the sources of funding for one‑time purchases, a ledger of take‑home vehicles and their maintenance costs, documentation supporting vehicle upfitting expenses, and the list of federals/state grants tied to training. MPD and finance staff committed to returning with detailed follow‑up materials at the next Committee of the Whole.
The clerk received and filed the report, and the committee signaled it will continue the topic at a future meeting after staff provides the requested information.
