Annapolis Finance Committee Budget Hearing and Report Deliberations - May 6, 2026
Annapolis Finance Committee Meeting – Budget Hearing – May 6, 2026
The Finance Committee of the City of Annapolis met on May 6, 2026, at 9:39 AM to deliberate on the FY27 budget, assign writing responsibilities for the Finance Committee report, and schedule a special meeting. The meeting included a closed session on cybersecurity and public security. The committee agreed on a process to draft the report and set a deadline of 7:00 PM on Monday, May 11, 2026, for the final report to be posted and presented to the City Council.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Agenda: Moved by Alderwoman O'Neill to adopt the agenda as amended to add a proposed closed session (pursuant to Maryland Code §3-305(b)(10) and (15)). Carried on voice vote.
- Approval of Minutes: Moved by Alderman Thorp to approve the minutes of the May 5, 2026 Special Meeting. Carried on voice vote.
Discussion Items
- Closed Session: The committee entered closed session at 9:42 AM to discuss budget matters related to cybersecurity and public security, citing Maryland Code §3-305(b)(10) and (15). The motion to enter closed session passed by roll call vote of 3–0. The committee exited closed session at 11:15 AM.
- Finance Committee Deliberations (ID-97-26): Acting City Manager Buckland, Acting Finance Director Pallikal, and Budget Analyst Turner were present to answer questions. The committee discussed the structure and content of the FY27 budget report, including:
- Division of department report writing among members: Alderman Huntley (also referred to as Frank) took city council, office of the mayor, city manager, central services, planning and zoning, and public works. Alderwoman O'Neill (Karma) took police, fire, OEM, transportation, and community grants. Alderman Thorp (Harry) took office of law, human resources, IT, finance, and recreation and parks.
- Use of the FY26 report format as a template, with updates to graphs and data.
- Process for drafting: members will write their sections individually, share via Google Docs, and communicate via direct email (avoiding reply-all to prevent an inadvertent meeting).
- Deadline for the final report: 7:00 PM on Monday, May 11, 2026, to be posted on the city website and presented at the City Council meeting.
- The committee discussed presenting only highlights at the council meeting rather than reading each department section.
Key Outcomes
- Report Assignments: Each committee member accepted responsibility for specific departments (see Discussion Items).
- Special Meeting Scheduled: The committee requested a special meeting on Monday, May 11, 2026, at 2:00 PM (tentatively) to finalize any outstanding points of contention in the report. The meeting will be broadcast and requires coordination with the Office of Law and broadcast staff.
- Report Deadline and Presentation: The final FY27 Finance Committee report must be completed by 7:00 PM on May 11, 2026, to be posted on the city website and distributed in hard copy at the City Council meeting. The committee will present highlights orally.
- Website Posting: Staff will work with IT to ensure the report can be posted on the budget page of the city website close to the 7:00 PM deadline.
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:44 AM.
Meeting Transcript
Nine thirty eight A. M. on April Sixth, two thousand twenty six. At this time, I'll take a roll call. Autumn Thorpe. Right. Autumn and O'Neill. And is there a motion to approve the agenda as amended to add a proposed closed session pursuant to the annotated code of Maryland General Revision Section Three, O Five, B, ten, and fifteen. Second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Motion carries. So moved. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Excellent. The next item on the agenda is a proposed closed session, pursuant to the annotated Code of Maryland General Provisions, Section Three-three oh five, B, ten, and fifteen. The topics for this closed session are budget discussions regarding cybersecurity and public security. At this time, oh, I think our attorney was supposed to read that. At this time, I would entertain a motion to move pursuant to annotated code of Maryland General Provision Article Three-three oh five B, ten, and fifteen to go into closed session. So move. Oh, well, you might need a mic. We just lean that over to Caleb. Do it. Hi. The motion passes. The council is now in close session. Okay. Okay. Yes. Yes. Yove, and we have all Hum, ando, ando, ando, ando, ando, ando, Love, and so onold on, so Hold on, so, so, so, Hold on, so So, so we're so High, okay, and so, and soow do we have this? How does it all beum, and we're gone, and we'reold on, so Hm How does this be, and all, and so, and so, and soum, and so, Hum, and so, and so, yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay, okayow does this honey? Howm, we have so, and so, Alright, I think the only other thing on our agenda for today, unless you guys have deliberations that you want to go over, is just breaking up who's doing what in the finance committee report. So I was thinking we would just go through department by department and uh folks we can just kind of call it out and each one of us can take some. I know we already said auto Roman O'Neill is gonna do public safety. I think Alderman Thorpe do you want a public works, right? So we'll just write those down as we get to them. Um let's see. How many departments do we have? Is it 12? Ms. Buckland. How many departments do we have? Twelve? That sounds about right. There's 15 department budgets, but there's a couple duplicates. Oh, yeah. Once you start adding mayor and city manager, then 14. Yeah, 14.
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