Budget Finance Committee Meeting Summary - November 19, 2025
Budget Finance Committee Meeting Summary - November 19, 2025
The Budget Finance and Audit Standing Committee held its final meeting of the council session, focusing on the codification of a budget reservation ordinance, public comments regarding fiscal fairness, and the review of new procurement contracts. The committee thanked departing staff and reviewed a resolution to ensure incoming officeholders have budget access at the start of their term.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes from the previous meeting by motion without objection.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jadante Smith: Expressed concern regarding the timeliness of the discussion and the potential for "lame duck" members to make uninformed budget decisions. Speaker emphasized the critical need for incoming members to have sufficient funds to address district needs and blight in underserved areas, specifically citing District 3.
- Carolyn Hughes: Expressed strong opposition to the ordinance, characterizing unspent funds as "not play-doh money" belonging to the citizens. Speaker clarified that unencumbered funds should return to the general fund, not roll over to the succeeding officeholder, arguing that this practice creates an unfair advantage for incoming members.
- Donnie Johnson (Caller): Opposed the proposal, stating that funds not spent should be returned to the general fund to address other critical needs like the Health Department. Speaker criticized council members for ignoring resident concerns and argued against providing extra funds to officials.
- Caller (Ph. ending in 482): Opposed the rolling over of funds, citing the 2001 Revised Municipal Act. Speaker argued that unspent funds should return to the general fund and criticized the administration for allowing surplus funds to remain in specific office accounts.
- Karen Winston: Expressed confusion regarding the mechanics of the proposal. Speaker argued that unspent funds should return to the general budget and voiced opposition to the creation of district-specific budget lines.
Discussion Items
Ordinance to Amend Chapter 17 (Section 17-2-30)
- Mr. Corley (LPD): Provided an overview, stating the ordinance ensures 50% of the fiscal year budget allocation for elected office holders is reserved for the incoming office holder in election years. Speaker credited Councilmember Letitia Johnson for spearheading the concept.
- Mr. Anderson (Law Dept): Confirmed the ordinance resolves prior issues and codifies a previously approved resolution.
- Donnie Johnson (Budget Director): Supported the codification, noting it creates predictability. Speaker clarified that if 50% is already encumbered by the outgoing member and a surplus remains, those funds would roll over to the next council member unless designated for other uses (e.g., staff vacation payouts).
- Clarification by Ms. Barcliff: Explained that the ordinance does not divert funds to other accounts but ensures that at the start of a term (specifically the half-way mark of the fiscal year in election cycles), the incoming officeholder has access to 50% of their allocated budget to operate.
- Mr. Anderson (Clarification): Reiterated that the budget is a plan of financial operations for the office itself, not the individual, and clarified that the budget definition excludes internal service funds, enterprise funds, and capital project funds.
New Business: Contracts
- Line Item 7.1 (Mobile Field App): The committee discussed a contract for a mobile field app for property assessments. Member Vice Chair raised questions regarding cybersecurity and hacking that require input from the Department of Information Technology (DoIT). Committee decided to reach out to Director Thompson for assistance before proceeding.
- Line Item 7.2 (Facility Management): The committee considered a contract for facility management services for the DPSH building. The Vice Chair called for a short recess while waiting for the absence of key staff (Mr. Short).
Key Outcomes
- Motion Passed: Sent Line Item 5 (the 11:00 p.m. public hearing ordinance) to informal vote with a recommendation to approve.
- Motion Passed: Authorized discussion of Line Item 7.1 after addressing cybersecurity queries.
- Motion Passed: Authorized discussion of Line Item 7.2 pending staff availability.
- Voting Record: No final votes were taken on the contracts during this session due to technical questions and the recess; the vote on the ordinance was passed as a recommendation for council approval.
Meeting Transcript
Mr. Chair, you have a quorum. Thank you, Madam Clerk. And let us make sure media services are queued back up as well. Thank you. I want to uh first thank member vice chair for getting us started here this afternoon. Really appreciate that, sir. Uh we'll move to approval of the minutes. Members have provided members have been provided the minutes from last meeting. Is there a motion to do so? Motion. Hearing no objections, that action shall be taken. We will try to move swiftly into our agenda first going into our public hearing, noting that this is our last budget finance and audit standing committee for this council session. And so before I I get to the end, I would like to thank everybody from LPD, Mr. Corley, Miss Barcliff, Ms. Short, all of council staff, my team, uh the clerks, as well as the parliamentarian, uh, for all the amazing work that you have done over these past four years. Uh it goes without saying. I think this is the finest committee on council. Uh, I may be a little bit biased, but uh what I will say is uh we have I believe provided transparency to the community, uh tried to educate them when possible about the budget process uh and ensure that we are passing uh funding uh as well as contracts and other legislation that ensures that our city stays fiscally stable for years to come. So uh thank you all for your service and all you have done. And don't want to leave out Mr. Anderson as well uh from the law department. Um so uh we have already taken care of public comment. We will now call back to order our 110 p.m. public hearing regarding the amendment of chapter 17 of the 2019 Detroit City Code Finance Article 2 budget division one allocation by adding section 17-2-30 reservation of budget allocation for elected office holders and certain years to ensure half of the fiscal year budget allocation be reserved for incoming elected office holders. Uh here to help us discuss a little bit more about this, obviously is LPD uh who has uh helped put this ordinance together as well. Law department is here uh as well. This is something that we have discussed uh in length, uh but we are now at the public hearing stage, whereas if this is passed today, it goes in front of council, so the ordinance has the opportunity to be approved. So if we can just do a brief overview and review uh of this ordinance, we'll take public comment as well. So if you wish to participate in public comment regarding our 110 p.m. public hearing, uh please indicate so now uh by raising your hand via the zoom feature. Public comment going once, public comment going twice, public comment going three times. Public comment is now closed for our 110 p.m. public hearing. Uh I will defer to you, Mr. Corley, uh, to give a brief overview and then if Mr. Anderson or Ms. Barcliff would like to add on after that, uh they are more than welcome. Floor is yours, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. Uh City Council. I just want to say, Mr. Chair, it's been a wonderful pleasure working for you this last four years. Uh you're you're wonderful. Your staff is great, it's been great, and uh it's been an honor working with you, and I appreciate it. And I look to work with you in some capacity in the future. Honestly, sir. So this is an ordinance to amend chapter 17 of the 2019 Detroit City Code.
openpublica.com