The Finance Committee met on September 2, 2026, to consider a fund transfer correcting overcentralization, a collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME Local 3162, a resolution creating paramedic job classes, a quarterly capital improvement projects update, and a finance department update. All items received favorable recommendations.
Fund Transfer 127 (Overcentralization Correction): Deputy City Manager Buckland explained that during the centralization of IT and central services, some funds (e.g., for uniforms) were incorrectly pulled into central services. This transfer returns those funds to the appropriate departments and enterprise funds (transportation fund for ADOT). The committee voted unanimously for a favorable recommendation.
Collective Bargaining Agreement – AFSCME Local 3162: The committee reviewed the agreement negotiated by city staff, covering roughly 40 employees. Key points discussed:
Resolution 2726 (Paramedic Job Classes): This creates separate paramedic job classes parallel to firefighter classes, for personnel who do paramedic work only. The committee praised the fire chief for forward-thinking. Favorable recommendation was unanimous.
Capital Improvement Projects Quarterly Review: Public Works Director Vogel updated the committee:
Finance Department Update: Finance Director Karenich (introducing new Deputy Finance Director Inez Capone) reported:
Audit Committee Staff Liaison: An action item was raised to discuss the staff liaison role due to a recent promotion; follow-up between Alderman Thorpe and the finance director.
This time we'll have a roll call, Alder Woman O'Neal. Present. Alderman Thorpe. Present. And I am here. I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda as written. So moved. Second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Is there a motion to approve the minutes from the July 15th and July 24th meetings? So moved. Second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you very much. Motion carries. We'll start off with our fund transfer 127. Looking at centralization or possibly overcentralization in the budget we just passed. And I'll turn it to Deputy City Manager Buckland to give us a little overview on this. It seems relatively straightforward, but thank you. Yeah, so when we were doing the centralization for both IT and central services, um the first pass at that was basically look drawing in funds related to broad classes of where it was budgeted, what kind of uh object code was it? Um but as we have gone through now and are doing the much more detailed implementation, it's clear that there are a few things that were listed in there that were related to that topic but weren't part of the point of centralization. Um so that money got pulled into central services when it shouldn't have. It actually should have remained in the departments because it's not it's not work the Central Services itself is is doing. So um, you know, uniforms and and other things like that. Um that's still being done in the departments. So this just corrects that overcentralization. So it's not the departments aren't doing anything more or less. It's just actually giving them to money the money to do what they would have done anyway. Right. Thank you. And in this case, I see certainly with the uh latter portion of it, the water one, what we're doing is putting it back into an enterprise fund. Can you explain to me for the ADOT portion? Is that going into the transportation fund or is that ADOT's portion of the general fund? Uh I believe that is in the transportation fund. Okay, right. Oh, that would make sense, right. All right. Uh that was my only question. Anybody got any other questions on this? Make a motion for a favorable recommendation. Second. Awesome. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Motion carries. FT 127 has a favorable recommendation.