Lakewood Finance Committee Meeting - June 29, 2026: 2027 Budget Priorities
Lakewood City Council Finance Committee Meeting - June 29, 2026
The Finance Committee met to discuss Council's budget priorities for the 2027 City budget, reviewing a range of proposals spanning policy initiatives, capital projects, and program expansions. The meeting focused on refining priorities, understanding administrative capacity, and establishing a timeline for communicating council direction to the administration.
Approval of Minutes
- The minutes of the June 22, 2026 Finance Committee meeting were approved unanimously (voice vote).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Andre Hoffman (student): Expressed support for a handball court, stating middle school students lack safe spaces to play, and that the court would provide exercise and a way to make friends.
- John Daters (parent): Supported the handball court, noting his children’s passion for handball club (7 a.m. practices) and argued that green space and handball courts both serve the goal of connecting people with outdoor activity.
- Mr. Vargas (teacher/coach): Proposed three specific locations for a handball court (Madison Park, Lakewood Park tennis courts, Kaufman tennis courts) and argued that repurposing a tennis court would be more cost-effective than new construction, citing growing student participation (projected over 100 players).
Discussion Items
- Mental Health Response Team (Councilman Evans, with collaboration from Councilmembers Strebig, Hamilton Steiner, and Bullock): The goal is to add a layer of trained responders to handle mental health crises, complementing rather than replacing police and fire. Councilman Evans noted the proposal is in early stages, requires coordination with police, fire, health services, and Judge Neff, and is unlikely to be implemented in 2027 but is a multi-year priority. Director Burr highlighted existing efforts (neighborhood paramedic program) and stated Cuyahoga County wants Lakewood to be a model for co-responder models.
- Public Art Advancement – Bernice Pyke Park (Councilman Evans, President Kepple): Proposed $100,000 for 2027 (continuing 2026 allocation) to support a sculptural, place-based public art project celebrating women in Lakewood’s history at Bernice Pyke Park. Discussion included coordination with the forthcoming Public Art Master Plan and capital improvements to the park planned for 2028-2029. Councilman Bullock emphasized the need for sustained funding without cannibalizing existing public art programs.
- Handball Court (President Kepple, with Councilmembers Strebig, Hamilton Steiner, Evans, Bullock): Proposal to build a community handball court (estimated at $50,000 in the draft, but Director Gordon indicated costs likely $150,000–$200,000 based on recent court construction). Discussion focused on location options (repurposing tennis courts at Lakewood Park or Kaufman), the need for a public process, and potential to partner with the YMCA for indoor courts. Councilmembers expressed strong support for providing an activity for middle school youth. The sponsors agreed to continue research and meet with administration.
- Home Improvement Loan Programs (President Kepple, Councilman Bullock, Councilman Evans): This priority aims to replace the paused Cuyahoga County HELP program with a local low-interest loan program for low/moderate-income homeowners. Councilman Evans noted ongoing difficulty obtaining information from the county. Proposal is policy-focused for 2027, with potential seed funding in future years. Director Byington confirmed staff are gathering data from peer communities.
- Charter Amendment Education (President Kepple): Voter education materials (mailings, public sessions, social media) for potential November 2026 charter amendments. Funding already exists in the 2026 budget; no 2027 budget impact.
- Citywide Composting (Councilwoman Hamilton Steiner): Continuation of work toward the Climate Action Plan goal of 95% organic waste diversion. A community survey was completed; next steps include meeting with administration to determine rollout plan and whether the $50,000 budgeted in 2026 is sufficient for 2027. Councilwoman Steiner noted it could be deprioritized if funds are tight.
- Deferred Items: The following three priorities were deferred to the next Finance Committee meeting due to time constraints: Implementation of Racial Equity Plan, Lakewood Community Circulator, and Expansion of Winter Sidewalk Maintenance.
Key Outcomes
- The committee agreed to receive and file the communication from President Kepple summarizing the 25 budget priority drafts, with the intention of issuing a formal committee report to full council at the July 20, 2026 meeting to signal council’s direction to the administration before the August 1 internal budget process begins.
- No formal votes were taken on individual priorities; the discussion served as a working session to clarify ideas and build consensus.
- The next Finance Committee meeting will be scheduled for one hour to address the remaining three deferred priorities.
Meeting Transcript
I will go ahead and uh Councilman Bullock will be back, I'm sure, in a moment. Uh we have a quorum though, and call the June 29th uh 2026 Finance Committee meeting to order of Lakewood City Council. Um first order of business is review and approval of the June 22nd minutes. I will go ahead and make a motion to approve the minutes. Second. Uh motion made and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Um Councilman Bullock, do you approve the minutes? I do. Uh let the record reflect that Councilman Bullock said I do as he was sitting down. Um the next uh the only uh item of business we have, which is a communication. Um we got through a good amount last week and kind of talked about council budget priorities. Some of them are as we discussed, more policy-based. Um of them would affect the 2027 budget, some of them would affect future budget years. But it really does give us a good forum to discuss these issues as a council, with members of the administration present, with the public present so that we can uh build coalitions uh and develop ways in which to fund some of these priorities or at least get them um teed up for funding, uh whether that's through city funds or third party funds. Um so we got through the first two pages uh last time and I or maybe even um a couple pages in. And I think we are now at we did block clubs, is that correct? Um so we talked about that, and now we are at the mental health response team, which I believe was uh proposed by Councilman Evans. Um so I guess I will throw it to Councilman Evans to explain uh kind of what what what we're thinking and how we may uh accomplish it. Uh thanks uh chair. Um I uh this is one of the ones I I can't tell you how early we are we on in the process on this one. Um this is something that was brought up by actually a couple of members of the community um who spoke to me and has found champions amongst residents in the city. Um it's just uh as a way to um um support our safety services um in different ways with folks who can respond in different ways. Um obviously we we this is so early that we haven't been able to reach out to our partners at at the uh police department, fire department, and health services, um which all are important conversations. So um this is you know we have this on the list for 2027. Is that likely to happen? Probably not because this is a biggie. Um it's a big budget ask, it's a big um question of a lot of uh cooperation integration across a lot of different departments. Um but it's a conversation that several of us are very dedicated to having, and we have again a lot of support from the community um including we we have had a couple conversations with Judge Neff. Um so there's a specific a very specific thing we're looking at, but that may or may not be the the right answer or or the right way to go. Um but again, this is uh in its infancy, uh lots of things to happen. Um but we feel it's an important thing to um address. So um again, lots of work to do during this calendar year, probably all next calendar year before this would actually you know see something implemented, um, but want to make sure it is um on our radar and something that we're thinking about. Any other thoughts from folks that are um interested in working on this issue? Uh Councilperson Strybig. Thank you. Yes, um this is very important. Um mental health. In fact, um the Lakewood Youth Council last year created their own mental health committee specifically because they're seeing so many issues with young people in in uh the issues that they're having may or may not be readily solved by a 911 call to the police department or the fire department, although they have great training. I'm not knocking anyone with what they're doing by any stretch of the imagination. I just wonder if it's a different type of um program that, and again, no offense, Chief, that a badge and a holster don't help at that moment. Um so I am I'm very interested in in exploring these ideas and and seeing what other communities are doing. Um we're not trying to recreate the wheel, um, but I think it's important. Uh specifically um the LGBTQIA plus community has a lot of issues with uh dealing with mental health and maybe not getting all the resources that that they uh require. So thank you. Yeah, and I will quickly reiterate that I I completely agree. I have the utmost respect for both police department and fire department. This is this is not about anybody doing their job or doing it extraordinarily well.
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