Charlotte City Council Straw Votes Meeting - June 2, 2025
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Charlotte City Council Straw Votes Meeting - June 2, 2025
This meeting was held to finalize adjustments to the FY26 budget ordinance, with the council voting on a series of funding proposals, primarily drawing from $5.3 million in one-time ARPA revenue replacement funds. The council debated and voted on financial partner allocations, employee support, community grants, and other items, culminating in a motion to direct the city manager to prepare the final budget for a vote on June 9, 2025.
Discussion Items
Financial Partners (Slide 8)
- The Budget Governance and Intergovernmental Relations (BGIR) Committee recommended approval of a list of financial partners on slide 8, requiring $1.237 million from ARPA. Councilmember Mayfield opposed, citing that some organizations did not meet scoring criteria (minimum 47.77 score or under 30% of budget). The motion passed, with Mayfield voting no. Councilmember Watlington initially requested recusal due to board service with Carolina Metro Reds but withdrew after the city attorney clarified it was not a mandatory conflict. The vote stood.
Charlotte Museum of History Exhibit
- Councilmember Molina proposed $350,000 from ARPA to sponsor a traveling exhibit. After debate about using arts-focused funds (e.g., leftover infusion fund dollars) versus ARPA, the council voted to authorize the city manager to seek alternative funding sources, not ARPA. The motion passed with opposition from Councilmembers Graham and Brown.
City Staff Supportive Services Fund
- Councilmember Mayfield proposed $1.5 million over three years from ARPA to support city employees facing financial hardship (e.g., rent, groceries, medication), building on a pilot HR program. The motion passed 6-5 (with Watlington counted as affirmative due to absence).
BofA Stadium Small Business Utilization Oversight
- Councilmember Mitchell proposed $1 million over five years for an outside firm to ensure 27% small business participation on the $650 million stadium renovation. Opponents (e.g., Graham, Driggs, Johnson) argued existing CBI and audit functions suffice. The motion failed 4-7 (with Watlington counted as yes).
Health Care Benefit Cost Offset for Police and Fire
- Councilmember Mayfield requested $980,000 to offset health care costs for public safety employees. The city attorney noted legal restrictions on carving out specific groups; staff proposed a $250 flat bonus for all public safety employees instead. The council voted to deny the item, 6-5 (with Watlington counted as yes).
Minimum Wage Increase to $25/hour
- A motion to direct staff to study the cost of raising the city's minimum wage to $25/hour (from $24 in the proposed budget) was debated. The city manager warned it would create a structurally unbalanced budget. The motion failed 6-5 (with Watlington counted as yes).
Helping Hands Foundation Water Bill Assistance
- Councilmember Johnson proposed $300,000 from ARPA for a new nonprofit partnering with Charlotte Water to streamline water bill assistance. Councilmember Mayfield opposed, citing the lack of vetting. The motion passed 6-5 (with Watlington counted as yes).
NAACP National Convention
- Councilmember Mitchell proposed $200,000 from ARPA, with Mecklenburg County matching, to host the NAACP convention (July 12-16, 2025, projected $16.7 million economic impact). The motion passed unanimously (with Watlington counted as yes).
Dream Key Partners and Roof Above Additional Funding
- Councilmember Peacock proposed adding $159,000 for Dream Key Partners and $143,808 for Roof Above to bring them to their full requested amounts. Opponents noted Dream Key already receives multiple funding streams. The motion failed 4-7 (with Watlington counted as yes).
Key Outcomes
- Financial Partners (Slide 8): Approved (1.237M ARPA).
- Charlotte Museum of History Exhibit: Authorized manager to seek alternative funding (not ARPA).
- City Staff Supportive Services Fund: Approved (1.5M ARPA over 3 years).
- BofA Stadium Oversight: Defeated.
- Health Care Benefit for Police/Fire: Defeated.
- Minimum Wage Increase to $25/hr: Defeated.
- Helping Hands Foundation: Approved (300K ARPA).
- NAACP Convention: Approved (200K ARPA).
- Dream Key Partners & Roof Above Additional Funding: Defeated.
- Directive to City Manager: Final motion to prepare FY26 budget documents passed unanimously.
Councilmember Watlington left the meeting early and was not excused; under state law, her vote was counted as affirmative on all subsequent items.
Meeting Transcript
I want to call the council Charlotte City Council straw votes meeting to order. And we will start with our call to order, and it will be with we'll start with our city clerk. Ariel Smith, lead city clerk. Anthony Fox, interim city attorney. Good evening, Renee Johnson, and I'm honored to represent District 4. Yes, Margaret. Good evening, everyone. James Mitchell, City Council at large. Good evening, Dimpolaj Mira at large. Dante Anderson, Mayor Pro Tem, District 1. Vi L's Mayor. Marcus Jones, City Manager. Malcolm Graham, District 2. Good evening. Victoria Wattlington at large. Good evening. Tijuana Brown represent Charlotte City Council District 3. Elect the Ford of People by the people. So I just want to start this meeting is that it's the meeting for the council today. Council will then vote to direct the city manager to prepare the necessary documents and resolution for the FY26 budget ordinance. As a reminder, the adjustments from the May 19th meeting, I believe that they were all which um provided to the council members on Thursday of last week. And so we are going to work from that list and as we continue to begin that to develop the project the budget that we want to have going into the new year. So did today, based on the information we received, we'll further discuss any proposed adjustment and vote to determine if any will be included as an actual adjustment to update the proposed FY26 budget that we vote on on June the 9th at the June 9th business meeting. For the process, I propose that we hear from the budget governance and intergovernmental council care committee on any recommendations that the count committee has based on their review of potential adjustments for the financial partners for funding. Then we can go ahead and discuss and vote on other changes as seen by the council. So with that, I'm going to turn that over to our chair and our vice chair. Okay. Thank you, Madam Mayor. So all of you should have fiscal year 2026 proposed financial partners presentation in front of you. If you could look at slide number eight, um, this is what was discussed at our May 19th budget meeting. It includes everything that our colleagues had brought up on May 19th. And we approved this list at our meeting earlier today. This is a comprehensive list of all the partners that were raised on May 9 at on May 19th. The only partners we did not approve are on slide number nine, because some of those partners did not apply for the financial partner program. And I know that we had made a commitment to each other that we will be fair in our financial partner process to those who have gone through this application, have attended the orientation, and have followed all the rules of our process. So with that, um our committee approved all the financial partners on slide number eight, which will require 1.2 million dollars in one-time funding that will come from our bucket. So I hope my colleagues would support that. Uh, but it was unanimously well, it was three to one. It was approved three to one at the committee level. So I'm here to answer any questions that you have about this specific slide. All right. Um, so I see the mayor pro tem has vice chair. Uh thank you, Mayor. So I just want to end in a motion to accept the BGR committee recommendation on uh our financial partners for this fiscal year. Second. We have a motion and second. Now we'll have a discussion. And I'm going to recognize the Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just a point of uh clarification.
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