Annapolis Finance Committee Budget Hearing for FY27 – April 22, 2026
Annapolis Finance Committee Budget Hearing for FY27 – April 22, 2026
The Finance Committee held a special budget hearing on April 22, 2026, at 8:31 AM, called to order by Alderman Huntley. Members present: Alderman Huntley, Alderwoman O'Neill, Alderman Thorp. The committee reviewed the Mayor's Office and Integrated Technology Services (ITS) budgets for FY27, approved a supplemental appropriation and fund transfer, and recommended fee waivers for city-supported special events with an amendment.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the meeting agenda and the minutes from the April 21 special meeting (voice votes, all in favor).
Discussion Items
- Mayor's Office FY27 Budget Presentation (ID-83-26): Chief of Staff Neely Garrity presented the budget, emphasizing achievements in community engagement (over 500 residents reached, overdoses down 55%) and proposed enhancements: two new personnel (Deputy Chief of Staff; conversion of Assistant PIO from contract to full-time) and four software subscriptions (Constant Contact, IndieGov, Slack, Engage HQ) totaling under $60,000. Alderwoman O'Neill requested a breakdown of Assistant PIO benefit costs and asked to see current city-wide Granicus spending before adding $50,000 in enhancements. Alderman Thorp requested a meeting with Chief of Staff Garrity and ITS Director Paquin to discuss the website update plan, and asked what budget needs are not included but will be necessary within six months. Alderman Huntley questioned the large cut to supplies and asked whether the philanthropist consultant is one-time use or recurring, requesting performance metrics. The committee discussed the structure of communications staffing and the distinction between contract employees and true contractors.
- Integrated Technology Services (ITS) FY27 Budget Presentation (ID-84-26): Director Brian Paquin reviewed accomplishments including cloud migration of GIS, strategic plan progress, and new performance metrics (server uptime nearing three nines, average help desk response time 2.5 hours, website bounce rate targeted at 50%). The budget increase is largely due to centralising software costs from departments – capital outlay jumping to $2.1 million and contractual services rising $500,000 from cell phone budget reallocation. Proposed enhancements include converting a fire department IT consultant ($133,800), police cruiser laptop replacements, and ERP workflow software. Alderman Thorp requested a spreadsheet detailing dollar amounts moved from each department into ITS, and action plan and timeline for implementing credit card payments in Recreation & Parks and Transportation. He also asked to add to the follow-up document a question on what the ITS department gave up in the budget. Alderman Huntley asked about the unfilled cybersecurity specialist position (being refilled under a broader job class), and requested cost estimates for 10 enterprise seats of leading AI software to encourage experimentation. Alderwoman O'Neill noted the capital outlay transfer and asked for confirmation that enhancements appear there.
Legislation
- R-8-26 Fee Waivers for City Supported Special Events in FY27: Alderman Thorp moved to amend the list to include Eastport a Rockin' (waiving estimated $6,700 in police and fire fees). Alderwoman O'Neill and Alderman Huntley supported the amendment but called for a broader review of the fee waiver policy and its impact on overtime costs (noting fire department overtime near $2 million). The amendment passed by voice vote (3-0). The resolution was then recommended favorably as amended (voice vote, 3-0).
Key Outcomes
- SA-20-26: $3,000 grant from USTA/Mid-Atlantic Foundation for adaptive tennis programs. Recommended favorable (voice vote, 3-0).
- FT-9-26: Transfer $32,900 from non-allocated debt service to fleet operations to cover vehicle repair budget deficiency. Recommended favorable (voice vote, 3-0).
- R-8-26: Fee waivers for specified events including new addition Eastport a Rockin'. Recommended favorable as amended (voice vote, 3-0).
- Directives added to follow-up document: Breakdown of Assistant PIO salary and benefits (O'Neill); city-wide Granicus contract total for comparison with proposed enhancements (O'Neill); spreadsheet of software costs moved from departments into ITS budget (Thorp); action plan and timeline for credit card payment acceptance in Recreation & Parks and Transportation (Thorp); meeting on website redesign strategy (Thorp); what the ITS department gave up in its budget (Thorp); cost estimates for 10 enterprise AI software seats (Huntley); impact analysis if the second IT specialist (conversion of fire IT consultant) were not funded (Thorp).
The meeting recessed from 9:31 to 9:39 AM and adjourned at 10:50 AM.
Meeting Transcript
Two minutes until we're going. Something meeting of the finance standing committee is called the order at 8 31 a.m. on April 22nd. Happy Earth Day, everybody. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to a or sorry, first uh I gotta do a roll call. Auto Roman O'Neill, you're here. Yeah, oh, we can't hear you, but I could tell you were saying present. Uh Alderman Thorpe, you're here. All right, I'm here. Uh is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. All right. Second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. And Kayla, we have notes from yesterday, right? Yes. Okay. So uh is there a motion to approve the minutes from yesterday's meeting? So maybe second. Aye. All right. Uh Miss Gardy, floor is yours. We uh way we normally do this is you got 15 minutes for your presentation. We'll try to interrupt you as little as possible. Might just ask some little questions for clarity, and then we'll go through and each one of us have questions. We'll start with Alder Woman O'Neill, Altoman Thorpe, me, anybody else in the room who needs to ask a question, any questions that I've been emailed from other council members. And we'll try and be wrapped up on time. So uh Kayleigh, can you put 15 minutes on the timer? Yep. Thank you very much. You're up. All right, good morning. Hi, my name is Neely Gardy. I am the chief of staff for the mayor's office. Um I'm just gonna go over our top three accomplishments um to date for fiscal year 26. Um, number one is just the increased uh mayor's community engagement. Um, and this is the first four months of um since the mayor has been put into office. Um we've done events such as town halls, ward walks, and office hours reaching over 500 residents. Um we've also conducted staff round tables and two all staff meetings um to interact and hear from the staff, um, touching over 350 staff members. Um, constituent services. Um, we have a full-time constituent services person um who started in March. Um, and you can just I'm not gonna go over all these stats, but she's been hard at work. Um accomplishments, just strengthening and expanding the mayor's communications. Um, not gonna go over all these stats. We have obviously a presence on social media, put out a lot of press releases, do broadcasts almost daily, um, ceremonial things. We've been pushing out uh weekly newsletters from the mayor's office. Um we do anywhere from five to you know a ton of speeches every week, um, a lot of graphic design, and then also just responding to media inquiries. Um, just our direct impact in the community. Um I'm just gonna kind of briefly just talk about our outreach teams.
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