OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Budget, Finance, and Audit Standing Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, March 4, 2026
BodyDetroit, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, March 4, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:22:14

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good afternoon.

0:01

I'd like to call the budget finance and audit standard committee of Wednesday March 4th 2026 to order.

0:09

Would the clerk please call the roll?

0:11

Councilmember Denzel Anton McCampbell.

0:13

Present.

0:14

Councilmember Letitia Johnson.

0:16

Present.

0:16

Councilmember Mary Waters.

0:18

Present.

0:18

Mr.

0:18

Chair, you have a corn present.

0:20

Thank you so much.

0:21

Members of the committee should have received the minutes.

0:24

And with that, if there's an approval of the minutes, motion to approve.

0:29

There's been a motion to approve the minutes with all objections, the action shall be taken.

0:34

That'll move us on to chair reports.

0:40

So I do not have any uh remarks today.

0:43

That'll move us on into public comment.

0:47

Um request for public comment will close at 10.

0:52

Um please limit your remarks to two minutes.

0:54

We'll start with the folks in the room and then move over to folks that we have joining virtually.

1:00

Um do we have any public?

1:01

All right.

1:02

I see in one hand in the room, if you would come forward.

1:17

Good afternoon.

1:18

Uh, if you could just state your name and then you can proceed with your public comment.

1:22

You have two minutes.

1:24

Good afternoon.

1:25

Uh I just I'll make my oh, I'm gonna make a comments read if I use my full two minutes.

1:29

But I just want to uh direct my comments through the chair uh to LPD.

1:34

Um there is a lawyer in the city of Detroit, his name is David Whitaker.

1:38

He's worked for the city of Detroit for probably 30 years.

1:41

Um he's one of the longest tenured members in the city of Detroit.

1:44

Um department in any on any payroll, he makes 243,000 per year.

1:50

Uh so city council, you guys all just received a 6.5% pay raise through the elected officials compensation commission.

1:57

Hopefully, you guys earn that.

1:58

I'm not saying you guys are done a bad job, some people are brand new, but uh there's a year after year raise for the head of LPD legislative policy division, and this the mayor just received a 5% increase with that same elected officials compensation commission, and she only makes 235,000.

2:13

The salary before is 224,000.

2:15

Her 5% raise equated to $11,000.

2:18

So the head of LPD makes a level $8,000 more than the mayor of the City of Betray.

2:24

That is an egregious waste.

2:26

You can hire two lawyers.

2:27

He makes $117 approximately per hour.

2:30

You can hire two other lawyers, put them in a law department, or put them LPD and appoint somebody else to be the head of LPD and save money.

2:36

We have lots of positions in the City of Detroit that are uh huge like this.

2:41

And I think this is not a charter mandated position.

2:44

This is not a position, you have to have LPD head of LPD, but it's not a charter mandated salary.

2:48

So that salary can be looked at, it can be changed.

2:50

So now we're coming up on budget season.

2:52

I think we have to be very responsible when it comes to our fiscal matters when it comes to City Betray.

2:57

This is a business, and so as a business, you have to operate as such.

3:00

Um, it's not about the the best well-being of the citizens.

3:04

I understand it should be, but it's not, it's about profit.

3:06

And we have people who are late with reports.

3:09

LPD is unfortunately always late.

3:11

There's always something that LPD is getting asked to do, and these reports are not coming out timely.

3:15

These reports are not coming out as complete as they should be, and we don't have the amount of thoroughness that we should have.

3:20

And I think we should replace people at the top if they're not doing a job worthy of 117 per hour.

3:26

That is, I'm not sure consuming of other people.

3:30

Thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Water And Wastewater Management████████████████████████████████32%
Budget█████████████13%
Public Engagement███████████11%
Public Comment█████████9%
Procedural████████8%
Zoning and Land Use████4%
Affordable Housing████4%
Public Safety███3%
Taxation███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Budget, Finance, and Audit Standing Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026

The committee met on March 4, 2026, to discuss the Lifeline H2O water affordability program, a centralized fee schedule, community budget priorities, and other items. Public comment addressed concerns about city salaries, water bills, land use fees, and equity.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of the minutes from the previous meeting was moved and passed without objection.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • A speaker criticized the salary of LPD lawyer David Whitaker ($243,000/year) as an egregious waste, arguing it exceeds the mayor's salary, and called for budget responsibility.
  • Betty A. Varner, president of the Soda Elsewhere Black Association, requested waiving the $1,500 land use hearing fee for community associations and asked about the Lifeline H2O program.
  • A caller complained about water bills, NEZ tax breaks, and inequitable distribution of resources, calling the surplus fund "racist."
  • William M. Davis supported help for community groups and revenue sharing, and urged abolition of the emergency management law.
  • Another caller noted BZA transcript fees and urged more inclusive community engagement for the master plan.
  • Additional callers raised election and police issues.

Discussion Items

  • Lifeline H2O Program Presentation: Director Gary Brown of DWSD presented the Lifeline program, which provides water bill assistance based on 1.8% of household income. The program currently has 3,200 enrollees out of 4,500 available slots, funded by $3.5 million from GLWA. Brown noted that 28,000 households were previously served with ARPA funds, but now funding is limited. He discussed Easy Pay as an alternative for any customer behind on bills. Council members asked about enrollment, rates, urban farmer water access, and lead service line removal. The budget hearing for DWSD is set for March 13.
  • Centralized Fee Schedule (Item 7.3): LPD presented a report on creating a centralized fee schedule for city services, using Smartsheet Data Shuttle to allow departments to update fees automatically. Council discussed benefits for transparency and accessibility. The report was received and filed.
  • Community Budget Priorities Forums (Item 7.4): Renee Short reported on the January 2026 forums held in each district. Top priorities included housing (affordable housing, home repair), transportation, public safety, blight elimination, and sidewalk repairs. LPD recommended restoring a third polling question and creating a scorecard to show how feedback is reflected in the budget. The report was received and filed.
  • NEZ Certificate for New Home (Item 7.2): Proposed new single-family home at 4142 4th Street in Midtown. Builder Lucas Bondi described the project. Council approved sending to formal with recommendation to approve.
  • Tax Counsel Contract (Item 7.1): Contract with Barry Mormon for payroll tax representation, $50,000 for one year. Approved to formal.
  • Revenue Sharing Resolution (Item 7.5): Councilmember McCampbell introduced a memo supporting state bills for a revenue trust fund. Deferred two weeks for LPD to draft a resolution.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved minutes.
  • Approved sending item 7.2 (NEZ certificate) to formal session.
  • Approved sending item 7.1 (tax counsel contract) to formal session.
  • Received and filed items 7.3 and 7.4.
  • Deferred item 7.5 for two weeks with direction to LPD to draft a resolution.
  • DWSD budget hearing scheduled for March 13 at 3 p.m.
  • Skill Trades Task Force meeting announced for March 18.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. I'd like to call the budget finance and audit standard committee of Wednesday March 4th 2026 to order. Would the clerk please call the roll? Councilmember Denzel Anton McCampbell. Present. Councilmember Letitia Johnson. Present. Councilmember Mary Waters. Present. Mr. Chair, you have a corn present. Thank you so much. Members of the committee should have received the minutes. And with that, if there's an approval of the minutes, motion to approve. There's been a motion to approve the minutes with all objections, the action shall be taken. That'll move us on to chair reports. So I do not have any uh remarks today. That'll move us on into public comment. Um request for public comment will close at 10. Um please limit your remarks to two minutes. We'll start with the folks in the room and then move over to folks that we have joining virtually. Um do we have any public? All right. I see in one hand in the room, if you would come forward. Good afternoon. Uh, if you could just state your name and then you can proceed with your public comment. You have two minutes. Good afternoon. Uh I just I'll make my oh, I'm gonna make a comments read if I use my full two minutes. But I just want to uh direct my comments through the chair uh to LPD. Um there is a lawyer in the city of Detroit, his name is David Whitaker. He's worked for the city of Detroit for probably 30 years. Um he's one of the longest tenured members in the city of Detroit. Um department in any on any payroll, he makes 243,000 per year. Uh so city council, you guys all just received a 6.5% pay raise through the elected officials compensation commission. Hopefully, you guys earn that. I'm not saying you guys are done a bad job, some people are brand new, but uh there's a year after year raise for the head of LPD legislative policy division, and this the mayor just received a 5% increase with that same elected officials compensation commission, and she only makes 235,000. The salary before is 224,000. Her 5% raise equated to $11,000. So the head of LPD makes a level $8,000 more than the mayor of the City of Betray. That is an egregious waste. You can hire two lawyers. He makes $117 approximately per hour. You can hire two other lawyers, put them in a law department, or put them LPD and appoint somebody else to be the head of LPD and save money. We have lots of positions in the City of Detroit that are uh huge like this. And I think this is not a charter mandated position. This is not a position, you have to have LPD head of LPD, but it's not a charter mandated salary. So that salary can be looked at, it can be changed. So now we're coming up on budget season. I think we have to be very responsible when it comes to our fiscal matters when it comes to City Betray.

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