Lakewood Finance Committee Budget Hearings - December 12, 2025 (Note: Transcript indicates December 15)
Lakewood Finance Committee Budget Hearings - December 12, 2025 (Note: Transcript indicates December 15)
This meeting of the Finance Committee was convened to consider the proposed 2026 comprehensive budget, related ordinances, and other fiscal matters. The committee heard presentations from the Mayor's Office and the City Council Clerk's office, discussed several substitute ordinances adjusting appropriations and contracting authority, and ultimately voted to favorably report out a package of budget ordinances to full Council. A discrepancy exists between the user-provided meeting date (December 12, 2025) and the transcript which repeatedly references "December 15th meeting"; this summary uses the provided date but notes the inconsistency.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (December 8, 2025): The committee unanimously approved the lengthy (40+ page) minutes of the previous Finance Committee meeting, with thanks to council staff for their detailed record.
Discussion Items
Petty Cash and Operating Fund Changes (Ordinance 29-2025)
- Finance Director Mahoney outlined proposed amendments to Sections 129.53 and 129.54 of the Lakewood Codified Ordinances, adjusting petty cash and operational cash fund limits. Key changes: increasing the police drug purchase limit from $50 to $10,000 (due to inflation), removing petty cash from the Mayor's office (which uses finance department cash), and eliminating the Health Department fund (no longer needed). Council clarified that the listed amounts are maximum balances at any one time, not annual spending limits. Ordinance 29-2025 was approved without dissent.
Mayor's Office Budget Presentation
- Mayor Meghan George presented the 2026 budget for her office and the Division of Community Relations. Highlights:
- Organizational chart; 5 full-time employees.
- Budget largely in line with 2025, with nominal increases in salary, travel, communications, and decreases in professional services.
- Division of Community Relations successful events: Concerts in the Park, Friday Night Flicks, Meet the Trucks, etc.
- Social media follower growth: Facebook +8%, Instagram +25%; monthly e-newsletter now has 8,000+ subscribers; printed newsletter sent three times in 2025.
- 2026 plans: expand wider audience for city messages, increase direct printed/electronic communications.
- Council questions addressed the role of civil service (under Law, not Mayor's office) and block club communications. The Mayor noted the challenge of creating a separate block club newsletter but acknowledged the importance of localized emergency communication.
City Council Office Budget Presentation
- Council Clerk Bach presented the 2025 accomplishments and 2026 budget request for the Council office. Key points:
- Major 2025 project: Office renovation (first comprehensive upgrade since 1990) – new furniture, conference room, staff workspace, and record storage.
- Staffing: Transitioned from an intern to a permanent third staff member (deputy clerk position created). Three-person team now operational.
- Records management: Through the renovation, 25 boxes of documents shredded; 819 records added and 289 modified in the public portal, totaling 7,000 new pages accessible to the public.
- 2026 budget highlights: Salary increase (At-Large members' pay bump, new permanent staff, 3% raises, 27th pay period); $5,200 for a citywide mailer (new); reductions in branded apparel and capital; professional services line item $38,470 (includes $6,000 for a scanning project, $2,000 more for leadership initiatives; remaining as reserve for council priorities).
- Planned 2026 initiatives: community conversations, citywide mailer, continued records management with professional vendor, block club support, charter review recommendations, zoning code refresh.
- Council President Keppel confirmed that the mailer could be used to educate the public on charter review ballot items. Council members discussed the importance of block club engagement and emergency communication networks.
Substitutions and Finalization of Budget Ordinances
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Councilman Bullock introduced substitute versions of several ordinances, reflecting updated figures and changes discussed with the Finance Director. The committee reviewed and voted on each substitute.
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Ordinance 31-2025 (2025 Year-End Appropriations) : Substitute increased General Fund appropriations from $60.99M (projected 12 months ago) to $70.9M, reflecting higher-than-expected revenues and fiscal stewardship. Key additions: $900,000 to hospitalization fund, $475,000 for capital (to avoid debt), transfers to street maintenance, Office on Aging, Winterhurst, and $4M temporary advance to CDBG (awaiting federal reimbursement). Approved.
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Ordinance 32-2025 (Transfers and Advances) : Substitute increased transfers from General Fund to street maintenance, Office on Aging, capital projects, Winterhurst, and CDBG, partially using surplus to reduce future borrowing. Approved.
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Ordinance 33-2025 (2026 Appropriations) : Substitute removed $16.5M for City Hall renovation from the Capital Improvement Fund (decreasing from $34.79M to $16.79M). A separate land acquisition fund was increased to $1.5M (the existing balance). Council discussed keeping the land acquisition fund as a reserve for property purchases, noting that any acquisition would require separate council approval. No motion to reduce the land acquisition fund was made. Approved.
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Ordinance 35-2025 (Capital Contracting Authority) : Substitute reduced the capital contracting authority for building and facilities improvements from $27M to $10.5M, reflecting the removal of City Hall renovation funds. Councilman Bullock proposed an additional amendment to explicitly prohibit using the remaining funds for City Hall acquisition or renovation without further council action. After debate, the Mayor and Finance Director clarified that the funds could not be used for City Hall renovation without council approval (no borrowing authorized) and that the administration intends to cooperate on a global strategy. The amendment was not formally moved; the substitute was approved with the understanding that the administration will not proceed unilaterally.
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Ordinance 36-2025 (Planning & Development Contracting Authority) : Substitute lowered the amount from $6.75M to a more accurate figure and added itemized program amounts (rather than vague line items). Council appreciated the clarity. Approved.
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Ordinance 34-2025 (General Contracting Authority) : No substitute; remained as introduced. Approved as part of the omnibus motion.
Council Budget Priorities Amendments (Discussion, No Votes)
- Councilman Bullock presented a chart of 16 potential council priorities (originating from council retreats over 12+ months) and offered five possible amendments totaling up to $570,000. He argued that funding could be sourced from the General Fund surplus, Economic Development Fund balance, or reduction in capital. Council members Baker and Strebig suggested most issues could be addressed later in the year through collaboration with the administration. Mayor George noted having received the document only hours before and requested more time to discuss specifics. No formal motions were made on the items, and they were not added to the budget ordinances.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of Minutes: Unanimous.
- Ordinance 29-2025 (Petty Cash/Operational Funds): Recommended for full council approval (substitute adopted, then reported out).
- Substitute Ordinances Adopted and Favorably Reported Out: All seven ordinances (31-2025, 32-2025, 33-2025, 34-2025, 35-2025, 36-2025, 29-2025) were passed by the committee as substituted/amended, with unanimous votes. These will now go to the full City Council for final reading and adoption.
- No Action on Council Priority Items: The committee did not adopt any amendments beyond those offered from the administration. Further discussions on block clubs, traffic calming, and other priorities were deferred.
- Adjournment: 7:29 PM (one minute early), without objection.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, I have six o'clock, so let's go ahead and call to order the uh December 15th meeting of the finance committee. First, I'd like to call up for potential motions to approve the minutes of the December 8th meeting of the finance committee. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? So moved. Is there second? Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion. I'll just say this is a long set of minutes. More than 40 pages. Thank you very much. And actually 12 or 14 of that was actual dialogue. Some of that was the presentations from the administration's uh numerous uh presentations. So thank you to the council staff, Hollyfee, Danielle, and Maureen, excuse me, Maureen, for preparing that and uh preparing a detailed and accurate public record. So um any other discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed and the ayes have it. Thank you. Um so we've got a packed agenda today. We've got two uh offices to hear presentations from. We've also um I'd like before uh doing anything else to um move to the top of the agenda, the petty cash um ordinance, uh just so that we get that disposed of. Um and thank you, Director Mahoney, for calling that to our attention. So that's items eight and nine. I think that can be a short deliberation. Um Director Mahoney, could you briefly outline the proposed uh changes? Sure, thank you. So um we just did a review of the actual processes that we have and the you know the needs for uh petty cash. There's two different things here. There's petty cash and there's change funds. So change is obviously you know when you start a drawer up your change. And that's what those operational or the change funds are. The other is the petty cash um for small expenditures under fifty dollars, uh, except with the exception of purchases for drugs. And those um, you know, as the chief had said, inflation hits everywhere, even even in the drug world. So that's why that one was requested. That's the only one of any materiality uh to increase that um the ability to have funds for that uh to ten thousand dollars. But the rest is just um very minimal. We also did an examination. For example, um the mayor's department doesn't really need uh petty cash, they just come down to the finance, so to take those away. Um the health department no is no longer, so we don't need that. Um then just like I said, uh uh operational change funds for um startups. Okay, thank you. Any questions, council members? I have a question. Uh one question from me. So do we read this as uh the total across the table is the maximum amount in a given year, or is that the maximum amount at any one moment in time, so that for example, a department may have expenditures monthly or weekly or something. That is the balance. So for example, in finance departments 700, uh is it is that the new oh no, that's uh $1,000 in the finance department. So your total cash on hand plus um receipts of expenditures that you've given out to people should always total a thousand dollars. And then once it gets to a certain level, uh you write a check and replenish up to that thousand dollars.
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