Cleveland Finance Committee 2026 Budget Hearing - February 26, 2026
Cleveland Finance Committee 2026 Budget Hearing - February 26, 2026
The Finance Committee, chaired by Council President Griffin, convened on February 26, 2026, to review and discuss the 2026 appropriations for the Department of Finance and related divisions. Director Paul C. Barrett and division heads presented budgets, fielded questions on vacancies, procurement costs, and operational efficiency. The hearing concluded with plans for reconciliation and a final vote by March 23, 2026.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public testimony was offered.
Discussion Items
Department of Finance Overview
Director Barrett highlighted achievements: contract digitalization via DocuSign (turnaround reduced from 6 weeks to 8 days), renewal of Gordon Square and downtown SIDs adding ~$6 million in revenue, 40 years of clean annual financial reports, new grants management software (Amplifund), outsourced EMS billing recovering $31–32 million, and a new debt program saving $68 million in liabilities. He outlined 2026 initiatives including travel policy updates, vendor self-service, electronic payments, debt management software, and a strategic finance unit for grants.
Administration, Accounts, and Assessments & Licenses
- Vacancies: Councilman Polencic questioned the high vacancy rate (174 of 258 positions). Director Barrett attributed over 60 vacancies to CCA (Central Collection Agency), citing civil service exam hurdles and an aging workforce. Councilman requested age and residency data for each division.
- Budget Increases: Councilman Harsh noted finance administration expenditures doubled and division of accounts salaries rose 60% in three years. Barrett explained increases from added staff, full-time salary budgeting for vacancies, and 3% cost-of-living raises.
- Assessments & Licenses: Councilman Casey questioned a jump in contractual services from $48,000 to $572,000. Commissioner Stevens explained plans for new building/collection software and SID management tools. Barrett added that $30,000 was for Snyder Blake temps, a citywide contract. Councilman Casey expressed concern about unspent professional services funds rolling into the city's ending balance.
- Councilman Polencic asked about purchasing procedures, referencing a $500,000 signage contract and a $2,000 chair. He requested bid records. Commissioner Tiffany White Johnson stated the signage went through a competitive bid process. Councilman Casey echoed concerns about overinflated prices and asked for bid comparisons. Director Barrett noted the upcoming vendor self-service program to increase competition.
- Councilman Jones inquired about diversity in contracting. Commissioner White-Johnson cited the Office of Equal Opportunity and monthly vendor training sessions.
Division of Treasury
- CRA Compliance: Councilman Polencic asked if depositories comply with Community Reinvestment Act requirements. Treasurer Natalie Banks said community development determines compliance; Key Bank was compliant, but others were not verified. Polencic urged aggressive enforcement.
- Interest Revenue: Councilman Harsh asked about volatile interest income (projected $27 million vs. $39 million in 2025). Barrett attributed it to declining interest rates and drawdown of ARPA funds.
Division of Purchases & Supplies
- Bid Process: Councilman Polencic and Casey questioned the high cost of city purchases (e.g., a $2,000 chair, $500,000 signage). Commissioner White-Johnson explained that bids are awarded to the lowest and best, but the department relies on subject matter experts for market research. Barrett announced a new vendor self-service system to improve competition.
- Councilman Jones asked about vendor diversity and training; the commissioner noted monthly open houses and cooperation with the Office of Equal Opportunity.
Internal Audit
Manager Natasha Brandt said the budget increase (from $604,000 to $1.4 million) was due to passing through costs for external audits and SOC reports, which are later reallocated. Two new auditors were added.
Division of Taxation (CCA)
- E-Filing: Councilman Casey confirmed that individual e-filing is available. Councilwoman Hudson asked about small business schedule C e-filing; it is not yet available but is being considered for modernization.
- Estimated Tax Payments: Councilman Casey questioned the requirement to pay 90% of estimated tax by January 31 before filing. Assistant Director Kevin Preslin said it is state law and city ordinance. Councilman also noted penalties were reduced to $25 per return.
Division of Risk Management
- Workers' Compensation: Commissioner Eduardo Ramiro reported 346 allowed claims in 2025, a historic low, attributing to chargebacks and safety training. Councilman Jones asked about refunds; Ramiro noted refunds are at state discretion, and better management leads to lower premiums and smaller refunds.
- Blocker Vehicles: Councilwoman Hudson and Councilman Slife questioned the city's delay in purchasing blocker vehicles to protect first responders on highways. Ramiro said he has advocated since 2009, but staffing concerns from safety chiefs have stalled implementation. He noted current fire and police chiefs are now supportive. Councilman Slife urged identifying positions and funding during budget reconciliation.
- Councilman Casey asked if risk management assessed the mayor's travel security; Ramiro said that is handled by public safety.
Printing & Reproduction
- Logo Issue: Director Barrett confirmed that future citywide communications will include City Council's logo alongside the mayor's.
- Bilingual Mailing: Councilwoman Santana asked about sending communications in residents' primary languages. Barrett suggested working with Urban AI for analytics.
- Councilman Jones asked why council cannot use the in-house print shop; Barrett cited council's contract with an outside vendor and non-personal/non-political rules.
Office of Budget & Management (OBM)
Budget Administrator Nicole Gallagher introduced staff and noted two new positions for a grants strategic business unit. Councilman Slife praised the new budget book software.
Financial Reporting & Control
Controller Leslie Camargo highlighted her team's work on the annual financial report. Councilman Harsh requested a future appendix listing all city grants.
Payroll Reserve, Rainy Day, and Debt Service Funds
- Payroll Reserve: Council President Griffin asked about the $73 million balance. Barrett explained it is restricted by law for separation payments and the 27th pay period (which occurred in 2024). The liability is approximately $90 million, leaving a shortfall. Griffin noted potential future budget pressures and asked about accessing these funds if needed; Barrett said council would need to change legislation, but rating agencies may react negatively.
- Rainy Day Fund: Balance is $70 million, up from $67 million due to interest earnings.
- Debt Service: No questions.
- Councilman Bishop requested funding for a facilities needs assessment and management software using restricted income tax funds; Barrett said it is eligible and can be submitted through reconciliation.
Key Outcomes
- The budget hearing concluded. Council President Griffin announced that reconciliation meetings will be held with the administration, and chairs (Griffin, Slife, Santana) will review requests. He cautioned that the budget is tighter this year and urged restraint.
- Second reading is tentatively scheduled for March 9, 2026, with final passage by March 23, 2026.
- Councilmembers made several requests for information: breakdown of professional services spending in assessments & licenses, bid documentation for signage and chairs, vendor diversity data, and a grants appendix for future budgets.
Meeting Transcript
We'll resume finance committee once again. This is ordinance number one seventeen as 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request and Emergency Ordinance to make appropriations that provide current expenses for the daily operation of all municipal departments of the city of Cleveland for the fiscal year from January 1, 2026 until December 31, 2026. And what I believe I would like to do, can we do about uh read about three departments at a time so that we can try to move into this or three other divisions at a time? So we'll start off with administration accounts and assessments and licenses. Page one hundred forty-two finance administration, Director Paul C. Barrett. Page one hundred forty-three, twenty twenty-five unaudited total salaries, one million one hundred and sixty-five thousand two hundred and sixty-five. Twenty twenty five an audited total expenditures, one million seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand six hundred and forty-five. Page one hundred forty-four, twenty twenty-five staffing level, ten, twenty twenty-six budgeted, eleven. Page one hundred forty-five division of accounts, Commissioner Lonia Mosswalker. Page one hundred forty-six, twenty twenty-five unaudited total salaries, one million three hundred and nineteen thousand nine hundred and four. Twenty twenty-six budgeted, one million eight hundred and forty-two thousand four hundred and forty-eight. Twenty twenty-five unaudited total expenditures, two million six hundred and thirty-five thousand seven hundred and forty-five. Page one forty-seven, twenty twenty-five staffing level nineteen, twenty twenty-six budgeted twenty-two. Page one hundred forty-nine, twenty twenty-five unaudited total salaries, one million five hundred and nineteen thousand eight hundred and sixty-six. Budgeted thirty-five, Sir Chairman. Thank you, Director. Yeah, through the chair to the uh committee, we just have a real quick presentation that I'll do for all of finance. Um then we'll we have all the commissioners behind me for the different divisions, so we'll bring them up as needed to answer any questions. Um just a little background of what finance encompasses. So um typically, you know, you've had a lot of divisions up here that make widgets and uh provide certain services like sweets uh street sweeping, snow plowing, that sort of thing. Well, finance is responsible for uh financing everything across the city. Um, obviously. Uh the only real division that I believe has any kind of widgets would be the printing and reproduction shop. Uh the rest of it is either related to insurance with risk management, uh sinking fund is is debt management, OBM, um, you know, with the the budget creation, CCA income tax administration, and and so on and so forth. So um our budgets tend to be pretty straightforward because we don't create those widgets. Um and head count tends to stay relatively stable. So uh compared to the other budgets you've seen tend to be somewhat boring. Uh so here is our org chart. So again, the different we've got 12 different divisions here. Um, you know, that that fall under the director of finance, including finance and admin, which does a lot of the administrative uh management type functions for all of finance. Head count. So just to give you an idea of how big uh finance is, it's about 258 employees, about 174 vacancies. Many of these are actually in CCA. So when we do get the CCA, you'll see there's some challenges with civil service requirements and that sort of thing, keeping them staffed, and they are a bigger division in finance, so that's where a big big bulk of these are. We also have a few challenges and assessments and licenses, things that we're working on, positions we're trying to fill. Uh just wanted to highlight uh a few things that we got done this year. So contract digitalization. I know accounts had a big hand in that, but specifically look shout out to Ann Tilly. She really took the ball with this and um you know, changed the way we did contracting. Again, over 300 contracts executed using DocuSign uh with a turnaround time of of eight days, about eight days when previously we were doing, I would say it was even more than three to four weeks, it was six weeks. And again, that's after a law has created the contract, so I just want to be clear on that. Um another thing, and thank you to council for having a special session last year. Um I know assessments and licenses and commissioner Stevens specifically worked incredibly hard to get the Gordon Square and downtown SIDS uh renewed. Um so that was completed in 4.4 months. Usually it takes twice the amount of time. They worked late nights and really worked hard, so I want to make sure that we recognize them. And again, thank you to council for having the special session during your recess so that we could we could get that passed. That's gonna add about six million dollars uh in revenue to the city because we were able to get that done quickly. Um I wanna highlight OBM and financial reporting and control with the awards that we've received year after year for our budget book and our ACFER.
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