Budget, Finance, and Audit Committee Meeting – January 14, 2026
Budget, Finance, and Audit Committee Meeting – January 14, 2026
The Budget, Finance, and Audit Committee of the Detroit City Council, chaired by Councilmember McCampbell, met on January 14, 2026, to discuss several agenda items, including the fiscal year 2025 local government retirement system annual report, two neighborhood enterprise zone (NEZ) certificate applications, and two memos from councilmembers. Public comment was heard on various topics including pension funding, community development, and recreation centers.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Owner Papa (first caller): Requested that reports on items 6.4 and 6.5 be made public before budget season, and questioned why Corktown appears frequently on the budget while other areas do not. Asked for a breakdown of CDBG funds by district.
- William M. Davis (Commissioner, District 7): Requested more information on the retirement system report (6.1), specifically the funding level. Noted there is no recreation center in District 7, contrasting with other areas.
- Jadante Smith (in-person): Raised concerns about environmental justice regarding Kronos concrete mixing facilities and the city's legal costs. Called for more trade programs for youth and attention to retirees and District 7 recreation.
- Betty A. Varner (President, Soda Ellsworth Black Association): Asked for revitalization of the Finkel Corridor, equal to other corridors like Avenue of Fashion. Also requested help expanding a community park.
- Renard Munjanski (Detroit People's Platform): Asked about the budget hearing schedule and the revenue estimating conference date.
- Additional callers raised issues about election integrity, but their comments were not responded to.
Discussion Items
6.1 – Fiscal Year 2025 Local Government Retirement System Annual Report
John Naglik (Chief Deputy CFO) presented the report, explaining Public Act 202 of 2017, which requires transparency for pension funding. He detailed four retirement systems: two legacy plans (frozen in 2014) and two new plans. Key funding ratios: General Retirement System legacy plan – 63.5% funded; Police and Fire legacy plan – 76.9% funded; active plans are 107.8% and 94.4% funded respectively. The city is on a 30-year path to full funding. Discussion covered the 13th check ($10 million split between general and police/fire, giving retirees $476 and $661 respectively), the clawback of annuity overpayments (still $50 million outstanding), and investment committees (independent for 20 years post-bankruptcy). Councilmembers Waters, Johnson, and McCampbell asked questions about comparisons with other cities, funding flexibility, and the impact of retiree mortality. The report was received and filed.
6.2 – NEZ Certificate for 9301 Oakland Avenue
Chris Gulag (LPD staff) gave an overview of NEZ programs and then presented the application from Stafford House, a nonprofit, to rehabilitate a building creating 10 rental units (60-80% AMI, ~$1,200/month rent). Total project cost $3.2 million. Parking provided: 10 spaces for tenants ($10/month) and 7 public spaces. No elevator initially, but planned later. Patricia Dockery (petitioner) confirmed construction is nearly complete and units will be occupied by March. Councilmembers praised the project. Motion to send to formal with recommendation to approve passed without objection.
6.3 – NEZ Certificate for 1257 Bagley (Duplex)
Chris Gulag presented the application from Matt Cassidy for a historic duplex in Corktown. Rehab costs ~$30,000 per unit; rents estimated at $2,200-$2,300/month. Parking available. Councilmember Johnson asked about the owner's rehab costs and rent calculation. The property was vacant and in disrepair. Councilmember Waters expressed concern about the rent relative to rehab costs and requested assessor's office data on the tax savings. Motion to bring back in two weeks (January 28) with additional information passed without objection.
6.4 – Memo: Request for Assessor's Office Presentation on Property Tax Assessment Data
Councilmember Johnson requested that the assessor's office present property tax assessment data to the committee. The item was received and filed, with the chair agreeing to schedule the presentation.
6.5 – Memo: Request for Information on City's Long-Term Financial Obligations
Councilmember Waters submitted a memo requesting data on the city's long-term financial obligations. The information was not yet available. Motion to bring back in three weeks passed without objection.
Key Outcomes
- 6.1: Received and filed the fiscal year 2025 retirement system annual report.
- 6.2: Approved the NEZ certificate for 9301 Oakland Avenue (sent to formal with recommendation to approve).
- 6.3: Brought back to committee on January 28, 2026, for additional information from the assessor's office.
- 6.4: Received and filed; assessor's office to be scheduled for a presentation.
- 6.5: Brought back in three weeks (February 4, 2026).
- Public comment cutoff was at 11 callers.
Member Reports
- Councilmember Johnson announced a coffee hour on January 16, 2026 (8 a.m.) at the Commons on Mac and Van Dyck, and a community meeting on January 26, 2026 (5:30 p.m.) at Hope Community Church.
- Councilmember Waters announced a deed fraud protection town hall on January 31, 2026 (4-6 p.m.) at Northwest Activity Center.
- Chair McCampbell announced a District 7 ceremonial swearing-in and visioning event on January 28, 2026 (5:30 p.m.) at Cody Rouge Community Resource Center, and the first evening council meeting on February 17, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
President Councilmember Mary Waters present Mr. Chair, you have a quorum present. Thank you, Madam Clerk. They'll move us on to the approval of the minutes from our uh January 7th meeting. And uh with that, if uh entertain a motion to approve the minutes. Motion. All right, we have a motion without any objections. The uh minutes will stand approved. Next we'll move on to chair remarks. I'll keep it short and sweet. Uh say good afternoon to everyone. Uh and for folks who are joining us for the first time, uh happy new year to you all. I think we can still say that for a few more days. Uh and just again want to make sure that we are uh conduct the business in this committee in a way that is um educational and is transparent for our residents and make sure we are being good stewards of our dollars here in the city of Detroit. Um that is all I have for chair remarks. And um now I will call for public comment. We're gonna accept public comment um and cut it off at 11. And so I don't see any folks in the room for public comment. Uh are there folks on Zoom? Yes, Mr. Chair, there are currently a total of six hands raised. Okay. We'll take folks starting on Zoom. Yes, Mr. Chair. You'll have two minutes, so my apologies the first caller, Mr. Chair is Owner Papa All right. Go right ahead. Good afternoon, and through the chair, may I be heard? Yes, you may, good afternoon. Good afternoon. I I see some um uh memorandums that are on the table, uh, one 6.4 and the other 6.5. Two very important um documents that need to be uh presented to the public. You say that you are for transparency, and I hope that you mean that. Um I would like to see these reports um given to the public uh before budget season, if that's possible. And I would like to know why do we see Corktown on our um our budget and our agenda so frequently, and we don't see many other places, but we see a lot of um Corktown, and uh this is like deja vu. Um the same people are getting the same dollars or our dollars, and it's not being distributed. And I think that we should probably with as the audit department, we should find out where all of the C D BG money went, uh, what districts, since we are broken out into districts, I would like to know by district how the money was allocated. Um my understanding of the census is that the census is created for a particular reason, and that's for distribution of federal dollars. That's one reason. I would also like on 6.1, we have a lot of questions about the retirement system. I would like for someone from the OCFO's office to explain um this annual report that we've received. Um, and I'm wondering um if we could make that happen. Um thank you and thank you for your time. Thank you so much. And absolutely, we will make sure that we do get um the report in 6.1 um explain it for folks, and then we can definitely look into uh the money by district by for the CDBG. Um Mr. Chair, the next caller is William M. Davis. Commissioner Davis, are you there?
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