Grand Rapids Fiscal Committee Meeting - January 27, 2026
Grand Rapids Fiscal Committee Meeting - January 27, 2026
This meeting of the Grand Rapids Fiscal Committee was held on January 27, 2026. Commissioners voted unanimously on several routine items, discussed and approved a major budget amendment, and received reports from the Comptroller and Treasurer. The meeting adjourned at 8:48 AM.
Consent Calendar
- Grant for CPA Access for Micro Local Businesses: Approved a grant to reduce barriers for CPA access, helping approximately 13 companies obtain certified net worth statements needed to become micro locals. The cost per company is typically $500–$750. A commissioner expressed strong support, noting the Community Foundation's investment in frontline communities. Unanimously approved.
- Increase in Audit Services Contract with Plant Moran: Approved an $85,000 increase to the professional services agreement with Plant Moran for FY2025 auditing services, for a total not to exceed $293,490. The increase was due to complexities from the transition to a new Oracle system. Staff noted this is a one-time increase; a two-year extension may be negotiated. Unanimously approved.
- Payment to Grand Rapids Community Foundation for Affordable Housing Fund: Authorized a payment of $173,897.11 to the Grand Rapids Community Foundation for the City's Affordable Housing Fund. The fund's total balance is approximately $1.7 million. Unanimously approved.
- Bid List Resolution for January 27, 2026: Approved six routine items, including renewal of IT support and SCADA software. Unanimously approved.
Discussion Items
- Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Amendment (Amendment #5): Approved a comprehensive budget amendment containing multiple grant awards, capital projects, and personnel additions. Key elements included:
- Grant Awards: Drug sobriety court (61st District Court), clerk's department grant, Americans with Disabilities Act grant, special election reimbursement for Parks and Recreation.
- Capital Projects: Sullivan Field improvements, Fuller Avenue reconstruction (Kalamazoo to Boston Street), Belmont Park ice house improvements, and a bond issue for 1500 Scribner gap financing.
- Engineering/Streets: Additional state funding for Vital Streets and Fuller Avenue reconstruction.
- Personnel Additions: 10 new positions (8 police sergeants to support community policing, 2 economic development coordinators, 1 strategic marketing communications specialist) funded by an anticipated $1.7 million increase in state revenue sharing. Approximately 75% of that state money ($1.275 million) will go to direct public safety, leaving about $500,000 for community initiatives to be determined by the Commission.
- Other Initiatives: $4 million for museum neighborhood elevator work, $75,000 for an arts and culture strategy initiative, enhanced support pilot program, and a Housing Next contract for ADU task force work.
- Discussion: A commissioner asked about the $1.7 million state revenue sharing timeline (expected April-May 2026) and noted the remaining $500,000 for community use. Another commissioner suggested hiring a specialist to make streets more user-friendly and people-centric, using additional road funding. Staff estimated new road funding at roughly $5 million this year, annualizing to $10-11 million. Unanimously approved.
- Comptroller's Reports:
- Warrant Report for December 30, 2025 – January 12, 2026: Total cash payments of $30,291,749.26, including $5.9 million in employee payroll and 204 income tax refunds. 1,285 accounts payable checks/electronic payments were issued.
- Small Claims Report for Q4 2025: 12 small claims totaling $28,771.
- Monthly Travel Report for December 2025: Approximately $969,000 spent, representing 42% of the annual travel budget. Reports received and filed.
- Treasurer's Report for January 1–13, 2026: The Treasurer emphasized the importance of an independent Federal Reserve, noting the upcoming FOMC meeting is likely to hold rates steady. He discussed tariff impacts on local manufacturers, inflation (still above 2%), cooling labor market (unemployment rate 4.4%, recently 4.5%), and the city's portfolio of $711 million earning 3.36%. He noted the need to align investment maturities with potential drawdowns of the city's $600 million in reserves. Report received and filed.
Key Outcomes
- All resolutions on the agenda were approved unanimously.
- The $1.7 million state revenue sharing surplus will have 75% ($1.275 million) allocated to direct public safety, with the remaining $500,000 for community initiatives to be discussed at the February mid-year update.
- Staff will provide more detailed estimates of new road funding at the mid-year update.
- The city will continue to monitor economic conditions and Federal Reserve policies, with a focus on maintaining stable investment returns.
Meeting Transcript
I am sitting in today for Commissioner Robbins. He will be here shortly. The weather's presenting a few challenges for individuals. And Commissioner Knight is um is out and will excuse her absence later. So I used to be on this committee, so nice to see you all today. So moved. And I'll support that. Mr. Hills. Good morning, Commissioners, uh, city colleagues. This grant allows us to continue uh decreasing the barrier of CPA access, part of the eligibility process to become an MLBs. You need a certified net worth statement from a CPA. So this grant will help about 13 companies become micro locals with the city of Grand Rapids. Questions? I comment. Very happy to see this before us and thankful for the community foundation's investment in our community. I used to be on the Black Legacy Fund committee for the uh community foundation, and it really have seen firsthand their investment in our frontline communities here. Uh so very thankful for this and very supportive of it. Great, thank you. Um, Mr. Holmes, I have a question. What's the total investment for that uh for that CPA or that support to obtain it? It's typically about $750 uh uh interaction well with the company. So um it does fluctuate depending on a company's revenue and sophistication of uh the majority owner's asset, so it could fluctuate between 500 to 750 dollars. And you said about 13. Yeah, if if all of them were about to say 150 mark, it'd be 13 companies. Wonderful. Um, all right. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. Next is a resolution approving an increase of $85,000 to the professional services agreement with Plant Moran for auditing services for fiscal year 2025 for total amount not to exceed 293,490. So moved. Support. Miss Claren. Uh good morning, Commissioners. This is simply to increase our contractual authority for that audit contract. We talked to the spotty about the complexities and challenges we had with going live with our new oracle system. On top of that, the challenges with the implementer. So um that uh made an issue for reporting, getting certain tasks done on time. So we had to be flexible with our auditing staff at Plant Moran to you know come and go until we had stuff available. As a result, we incurred more costs. Um when I talked with Plant Moran, they the range of increased cost was between 65 and um 85,000. So we're just raising that allowable ceiling up to eight, you know, additional 85,000 for this contract. Thank you. Questions, Commissioner? No.
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