OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Budget Meeting - April 2, 2026

City Council — Thursday, April 2, 2026
BodyDetroit, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, April 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:45:20

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

All right, thank you, Mr.

0:00

President.

0:01

So just a recognition that um customer Miller was a part of line item 157, um creating a construction mitigation fund, and uh council didn't approve $500,000 one time for that, but it's just a recognition for her to be a uh part of that.

0:22

Um let's see this.

0:33

So Mr.

0:34

President, that's all that I see on this um spreadsheet for council member miller.

0:40

I'm wondering, does she have any other you know um changes or any other items that she may want to address?

0:49

Yep, thank you.

0:50

Member Miller, I know you uh may have some items that you want to include that we did not have an opportunity to hear from you on.

0:58

Uh and if that's the case, the floor is yours to do so at this moment.

1:02

I will say no at this time.

1:03

I have had some amazing counsel by some of my colleagues on the council.

1:07

I said this was not the time to present certain things or question certain things, so I will await when that time comes to further indulge some of my desires um for our residents.

1:19

So at this time I rest my case.

1:21

All right, thank you so much.

1:24

Okay, Mr.

1:25

Corley.

1:26

Okay, and um uh my mistake, this is another recognition.

1:31

Um, thank you, Mr.

1:32

King, that uh council member Miller did join um council member Johnson on line item 226.

1:41

Um community outreach review.

1:43

Um council already approved the resolution, but just again just recognizing that she was a part of that.

1:51

Okay.

1:52

Um so uh Mr.

1:55

Corley, we still have a pen uh in terms of action.

1:59

Maybe I should have no, you know what?

2:00

We did that.

2:01

I should I cross it out.

2:02

My apologies.

2:03

Okay, okay.

2:05

Um I want to take the opportunity just to ask Mr.

2:09

Johnson.

2:11

Um in the proposed uh budget for 2027.

2:17

Was there a reduction or a total elimination of travel and training budgets throughout the city?

2:26

I'm noticing council's office budgets, uh let's say the policy division budget, the train training and travel was totally eliminated for fiscal 2027.

2:41

Um is that the case, you know, throughout all city agencies, and obviously the answer is because you know, you're working with um the the challenges that we have, you know, on revenues, but um just wanted to hear your global um understanding of that, Mr.

3:03

Johnson.

3:03

Uh through the chair to Mr.

3:05

Corley and and to the council, yes.

3:07

So we did eliminate those budgets.

3:09

Um only we left them in only for departments that have like legal mandated um legally mandated um uh things.

3:17

So that's gonna be do it.

3:19

Um obviously human resources maintains a training budget because there are certain trainings we have to do with employees every year, you know, sexual harassment awareness, these are all things that we have to do and research every year.

3:30

Um fire department has legally mandated certifications and uh uh police.

3:36

Yeah, police obviously has a lot of M COLS requirements.

3:39

So we left in trainings for that trainings in areas where there isn't a legal mandate to do a training.

3:45

Um they were removed in some cases.

3:48

Departments were able to identify other cuts to their budget in lieu of losing their training dollars.

3:54

That was pretty rare.

3:55

So, you know, we're down training budget across the city is about two million, it's about two point one million dollars across the general fund, primarily clustered in police, fire, and human resources with a little bit in do it.

4:08

Um travel was almost completely eliminated.

4:11

Um there's 130,887 across the entire general fund um for travel, and the remaining travel were for um very specific items where the travel is a requirement to get to certain um mandated activities um or activities um like the National Police Chiefs Association, the um mayor's conference, these sort of the national, you know, the the the conference of mayors and things like that.

4:37

So travel is um extremely limited, um, and the expectation is that departments in fiscal 27 will limit their travel if they wish to travel, they'll have to find reductions in their budget, things they're gonna give up in favor of traveling um or doing some type of training.

4:53

Ms.

4:54

President, that um so this Mr.

5:00

Johnson, so does that also include the mayor's office reduction of travel and training, and as well as the new department of um HHFS.

5:11

Do you know?

5:13

Uh through the president to Mr.

5:14

Corley, yes, and I'm pulling up something specific now.

5:22

So the only training remaining in the mayor's office, or there is none, actually, because those were homeland security grant funded, and those are now um in the police department.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Fiscal Sustainability█████████████████████████████████████████████51%
Budget Equity Analysis████████9%
Racial Equity██████7%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████6%
Historic Preservation████5%
Public Engagement███3%
Economic Development███3%
Procedural██2%
Community Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Budget Meeting - April 2, 2026

The Detroit City Council met on April 2, 2026, to continue budget deliberations for Fiscal Year 2027. Key discussions included the elimination of travel and training budgets across city departments, funding for oversight agencies, and numerous line-item amendments. The council voted on several proposals, including a compromise on oversight agency funding and adjustments to capital and operational spending.

Discussion Items

  • Travel and Training Budget Cuts: CFO Mr. Johnson reported that travel and training budgets were eliminated citywide except for legally mandated programs (e.g., police, fire, human resources). Total savings were approximately $1 million (about $520,000 each for travel and training). Council Member Whitaker questioned the impact on professional certifications, and Mr. Johnson explained that departments with underspent budgets could absorb necessary training costs.
  • Oversight Agency Funding: The council debated funding for the Board of Ethics, Auditor General, Ombudsman, and Inspector General. Council Member Johnson proposed a compromise based on historical spending rates, calculating amounts that agencies were likely to spend. The administration accepted the proposal: $51,288 (rounded to $52,000) for Ethics, $152,644 (rounded to $153,000) for Auditor General, $123,005 (rounded to $123,000) for Ombudsman, and $122,610 (rounded to $123,000) for Inspector General. Council Member Callaway opposed, citing budget constraints and the need to follow the administration's recommendations. Council Member McCampbell supported the compromise, emphasizing the importance of oversight agencies. Pro Tem Young and Mr. Whitaker also endorsed the compromise, noting it was a reasonable balance between commitments and fiscal reality.
  • Chinatown Streetscape Amendment: Council Member Santiago Romero initially proposed $1 million for a streetscape redesign on Peterborough Street in the Cass Corridor, referencing the historic Chinatown area. The proposal sparked debate about racial equity, with Council Member Callaway advocating for African Town funding and Pro Tem Young defending the investment. CFO Johnson noted the funds were not available and would depend on future state marijuana tax revenues. Ultimately, Council Member Santiago Romero withdrew the funding motion, and the council approved a closing resolution to study the area's streetscape needs.
  • Other Line Item Amendments: Several items were adjusted or moved to closing resolutions. Council Member Benson reduced funding for the Charles H. Wright Museum from $7.78 million to $1.5 million, and for street fund tree management from $4 million to $1 million annually. CFO Johnson warned these cuts would reduce police/fire vehicle orders and street resurfacing. Council Member Waters renamed a line item to "Nutrition and Wellness" with $71,000 recurring. Council Member McCampbell moved items on in-house contracting and D-Dot infrastructure to closing resolutions.
  • Elections Department: The council discussed a $7.6 million request for elections equipment. Council Member McCampbell moved to add a closing resolution urging the administration to fund the request from the FY26 budget reconciliation, and the motion passed.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved Oversight Agency Funding (recurring):
    • Board of Ethics: $52,000 added (line item 124).
    • Auditor General: $153,000 added (line item 221).
    • Ombudsman: $123,000 added (line item 229).
    • Inspector General: $123,000 added (line item 230).
  • Removed or Reduced Funding:
    • $300,000 removed from Southwest Detroit Community Justice Center (line item 233).
    • $500,000 removed from Animal Care and Control (line item 211).
    • $500,000 reduced to $200,000 for water feature at Kemini Rec Center (line item 210).
    • $1 million Chinatown streetscape withdrawn (line item 23).
    • Life and legacy planning reduced from $1 million to $500,000 (line item 78).
    • Charles H. Wright Museum reduced from $7.78 million to $1.5 million (line item 125).
    • Street fund tree management reduced from $4 million to $1 million recurring (line item 194).
  • Moved to Closing Resolutions:
    • Line item 23 (streetscape study).
    • Line item 128 (media services language accessibility).
    • Line item 67 (in-house contracting).
    • Line item 135 (D-Dot support).
    • Line item 144 (vacant apartment reactivation plan).
    • Line item 236 (elections department equipment).
  • Removed Line Items:
    • Line item 76 (Disability Affairs budget – no action needed).
    • Line item 146 (transitional housing property identification).
  • Approved Line Item: Line item 212 (Nutrition and Wellness) with $71,000 recurring.
  • Recess: The council recessed at 4:50 p.m. to allow staff to recalculate one-time capital fund totals.

Meeting Transcript

All right, thank you, Mr. President. So just a recognition that um customer Miller was a part of line item 157, um creating a construction mitigation fund, and uh council didn't approve $500,000 one time for that, but it's just a recognition for her to be a uh part of that. Um let's see this. So Mr. President, that's all that I see on this um spreadsheet for council member miller. I'm wondering, does she have any other you know um changes or any other items that she may want to address? Yep, thank you. Member Miller, I know you uh may have some items that you want to include that we did not have an opportunity to hear from you on. Uh and if that's the case, the floor is yours to do so at this moment. I will say no at this time. I have had some amazing counsel by some of my colleagues on the council. I said this was not the time to present certain things or question certain things, so I will await when that time comes to further indulge some of my desires um for our residents. So at this time I rest my case. All right, thank you so much. Okay, Mr. Corley. Okay, and um uh my mistake, this is another recognition. Um, thank you, Mr. King, that uh council member Miller did join um council member Johnson on line item 226. Um community outreach review. Um council already approved the resolution, but just again just recognizing that she was a part of that. Okay. Um so uh Mr. Corley, we still have a pen uh in terms of action. Maybe I should have no, you know what? We did that. I should I cross it out. My apologies. Okay, okay. Um I want to take the opportunity just to ask Mr. Johnson. Um in the proposed uh budget for 2027. Was there a reduction or a total elimination of travel and training budgets throughout the city? I'm noticing council's office budgets, uh let's say the policy division budget, the train training and travel was totally eliminated for fiscal 2027. Um is that the case, you know, throughout all city agencies, and obviously the answer is because you know, you're working with um the the challenges that we have, you know, on revenues, but um just wanted to hear your global um understanding of that, Mr. Johnson. Uh through the chair to Mr. Corley and and to the council, yes. So we did eliminate those budgets. Um only we left them in only for departments that have like legal mandated um legally mandated um uh things. So that's gonna be do it. Um obviously human resources maintains a training budget because there are certain trainings we have to do with employees every year, you know, sexual harassment awareness, these are all things that we have to do and research every year. Um fire department has legally mandated certifications and uh uh police. Yeah, police obviously has a lot of M COLS requirements. So we left in trainings for that trainings in areas where there isn't a legal mandate to do a training. Um they were removed in some cases. Departments were able to identify other cuts to their budget in lieu of losing their training dollars. That was pretty rare. So, you know, we're down training budget across the city is about two million, it's about two point one million dollars across the general fund, primarily clustered in police, fire, and human resources with a little bit in do it.

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