OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Budget Committee Meeting: 2026 Budget Presentations (October 7, 2025)

City Council — Tuesday, October 7, 2025
BodyMinneapolis, Minnesota
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, October 7, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:40:23

Transcript — Verbatim
0:14

Good morning.

0:15

My name is Aisha Chugtai, and I'm the chair of the budget committee.

0:18

I'm going to call to order our adjourned meeting for Tuesday, October 7th, 2025.

0:24

Before we begin the meeting, I want to offer a friendly reminder to all members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation.

0:34

These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community.

0:41

Therefore, all speakers need to be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully capture and transcribe all comments for the broadcast.

0:50

We ask all speakers to moderate the speed and clarity of their comments.

0:55

At this time, I'll ask the clerk to call the role so we can verify the presence of a quorum.

0:59

Councilmember Payne.

1:01

Present.

1:04

Rainville.

1:05

Rosa.

1:06

Vita.

1:07

Present.

1:08

Ellison is absent.

1:11

Osman.

1:12

Absent.

1:13

Cashman.

1:14

Present.

1:16

Jenkins, absent.

1:18

Chavez.

1:19

Present.

1:20

Chowdery.

1:21

Absent.

1:22

Palmasano.

1:23

Present.

1:25

Vice Chair Koske.

1:26

Present.

1:27

Chair Chucktai.

1:29

Present.

1:29

Eight members present.

1:31

Let the record reflect that we have a quorum.

1:33

I will also remind my colleagues that we will be using speaker management today, so please make sure to sign in.

1:39

Today we have three presentations related to the mayor's recommended 2026 budget from emergency management, human resources, and the racial equity inclusion and belonging departments.

1:50

I'll first invite emergency management director Rachel Sayre to begin the first presentation.

1:57

Welcome, Director.

2:00

Good morning, Chair Chugtai, Vice Chair Koskey, and Council members.

2:05

My name is Rachel Sayer, and I am the director of the emergency management department.

2:10

I'm here today to present to you the budget overview for 2026 for the emergency management department.

2:20

The emergency management department falls under the Office of Community Safety along with the other emergency response and safety components of our city government.

2:32

In my department, which focuses on large-scale emergencies and disasters, we have 10 personnel, one of whom is part-time.

2:41

We currently have no vacancies.

3:03

First, we place the whole community in the center of our approach.

3:08

This means that our work is based on the needs of the community that we serve, and that we place the humanity and dignity of our residents and visitors at the center of how we approach our work.

3:21

Another fundamental principle is collaboration.

3:25

Coordination and collaboration are the foundations of successful emergency management and response.

3:31

We approach our work in the spirit of partnership, not worrying about receiving credit for the work we do.

3:37

We just get the work done.

3:40

Finally, we focus on sustainability of our programs.

3:44

We must ensure that the work we undertake is doable with the staff we have, given we do not have additional budget to provide further programming.

4:06

This vision drives our programs and priorities, which are focused on better preparing our whole community for large-scale emergencies and disasters over the next five years.

4:35

Anyone can sign up for these by texting MPLS Alerts to 77295.

4:43

In just this last year, we've had over 20,000 subscribers in addition to years past, who are receiving direct notifications as soon as the National Weather Service issues watches and warnings, and that gives residents key time to prepare for potential significant weather.

5:06

We have also revamped and already delivered our first renewed ReadyCamp.

5:12

This is now a more accessible one-hour household level preparedness, what to do with your family to make sure you're ready for any type of disaster.

5:23

We delivered the first session of this revamped ReadyCamp last week in collaboration with Minneapolis Community Education.

5:32

We've also built a program called Ready Together that we are excited to work toward launching early next year, and that helps community organizations be better prepared for hazards that are specific to their organization.

5:48

In 2025, we stood up three emergency operations centers.

5:53

One of which was to an EOC to help provide services to the people affected by the August 27th Annunciation mass shooting.

6:02

As a part of that response, we had over 1,500 visits to our services, and we're already taking lessons learned from that response forward.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters██████████████████████████████████34%
Racial Equity███████████████████████████27%
Emergency Management███████████████████19%
Budget Management█████████████13%
Procedural████4%
Enterprise Risk Management███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Budget Committee Meeting: 2026 Budget Presentations (October 7, 2025)

This is a summary of the Minneapolis Budget Committee's adjourned meeting held on October 7, 2025, chaired by Councilmember Aisha Chugtai. The committee reviewed the mayor's recommended 2026 budgets for the Emergency Management, Human Resources, and Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging departments. Key themes included significant federal funding cuts to emergency management, strategic staffing and efficiency in HR, and a further reduction in resources for racial equity work despite expanded mandates. No votes were taken; the reports were filed.

Emergency Management Department Budget Presentation

  • Director Rachel Sayre presented the 2026 budget overview. The department has 10 personnel (1 part-time) and a $2.3 million budget, 64% of which is personnel costs. About 40% of the budget comes from federal grants.
  • A major reduction was announced: a federal grant that had provided $900,000 is now allocated only $10,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. The department will cut one specialized training ($25,600) to adjust.
  • Director Sayre highlighted programs: ReadyCamp (revamped for household preparedness), Ready Together (for community organizations), and MPLS Alerts (over 20,000 new subscribers in the past year). In 2025, the department stood up three Emergency Operations Centers, including one after the August 27th Annunciation mass shooting, serving over 1,500 visits.
  • Vice Chair Koskey asked about the impact of the $25,000 training cut on NIMS compliance. Director Sayre stated the NIMS program will remain intact; only one specialized training (e.g., operations chief) will be deferred for a year. Vice Chair Koskey expressed willingness to champion funding solutions for the lost $900,000 grant.
  • Councilmember Cashman questioned the org chart (four assistant directors). Director Sayre explained the structure mirrors an emergency operations center setup. Councilmember Cashman expressed concern about the FEMA contribution dropping from $900,000 to $10,000.
  • Councilmember Vita and Rainville praised Director Sayre's proactive communication and leadership, especially during the Annunciation shooting. Councilmember Chowdhury suggested seeking state support for emergency services.

Human Resources Department Budget Presentation

  • Chief HR Officer Nikki Odom presented the 2026 recommended budget. HR has about 65 professionals supporting over 4,000 employees across 27 departments, organized into seven divisions.
  • Key achievements: 110 new police officers hired, sworn strength above 600 for the first time since 2022. 89% increase in urban scholars applications; 10% of scholars received job offers or extensions (above 7% national average). 2% increase in women applicants from 2024 to 2025. Employee engagement doubled to nearly 1,000 participants.
  • Medical plan rates increased under 3%, well below peer averages (7-20% for public sector). The department is preparing for Minnesota's paid family and medical leave law (effective Jan 1, 2026) and the enterprise Workday ERP transition.
  • The recommended budget includes reductions totaling about $616,000, including the elimination of one HR manager and one talent acquisition position. Two positions will be moved from the general fund to the medical self-insurance fund. Director Odom noted four current vacancies.
  • Vice Chair Koskey asked about grievance resolution metrics. Director of Labor Relations Rashida Deloney reported approximately 20 grievances annually, with a target of 90% resolved at the lowest level (up from 65% in 2023), and that they are on track to meet that target.
  • Chair Chugtai inquired about an enterprise-wide compensation study. Director Odom said a full study is virtually impossible, but market data is reviewed during collective bargaining every three years. A written response on recent compensation inquiries is forthcoming.
  • Councilmember Rainville asked about contracts to be negotiated in 2026—not available offhand, but about 10 remain for 2025. He praised police recruitment and budget discipline.

Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (REIB) Department Budget Presentation

  • Director Prince Corbett presented the 2026 recommended budget. REIB is located in the Office of Public Service and has a mission to build city capacity for racial equity.
  • The budget has declined from $2 million in 2023 to $1.1 million in 2026—a 45% reduction over three cycles. FTEs have dropped from 9 to 5. The 2026 cuts include eliminating the deputy director position and transferring a senior project manager to the neighborhood safety department.
  • Despite cuts, Director Corbett highlighted 2025 accomplishments: George Floyd Remembrance event (130+ attendees), StoryCore partnership (stories archived at Library of Congress), expansion of repair harm and thoughtful confrontation training, and REIB serving as equity officer in the Emergency Operations Center (providing a racial equity impact analysis after the Annunciation shooting).
  • Performance measures: 877 individuals participated in racial equity learning sessions in 2025; 11 sessions facilitated; 300 hours of cross-department collaboration. The department is developing a 2026-2030 strategic plan.
  • Risks were outlined: operational (technology, burnout, staffing), financial (vulnerability to cuts), compliance (navigating evolving federal restrictions), and reputational (backlash against DEI). Director Corbett emphasized that the ordinance defines responsibilities but the budget defines capacity.
  • Councilmember Jenkins asked about the truth and reconciliation process. Director Corbett explained that the repair harm model is the operational version of truth and reconciliation, now being rolled out through workshops.
  • Director Corbett noted that out of 29 action steps from the 2024 organizational assessment, 9 are complete, 14 in progress, 4 not started, and 4 dropped due to federal policy changes.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee received and filed all three department presentations without objection.
  • Chair Chugtai noted administrative follow-up on the number of union contracts to be negotiated in 2026.
  • The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:00 AM, with the next meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 16, 2025, at 10:00 AM, featuring presentations from the Parks and Recreation Board, the Legislative Department, and the Climate Legacy Initiative.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning. My name is Aisha Chugtai, and I'm the chair of the budget committee. I'm going to call to order our adjourned meeting for Tuesday, October 7th, 2025. Before we begin the meeting, I want to offer a friendly reminder to all members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation. These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community. Therefore, all speakers need to be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully capture and transcribe all comments for the broadcast. We ask all speakers to moderate the speed and clarity of their comments. At this time, I'll ask the clerk to call the role so we can verify the presence of a quorum. Councilmember Payne. Present. Rainville. Rosa. Vita. Present. Ellison is absent. Osman. Absent. Cashman. Present. Jenkins, absent. Chavez. Present. Chowdery. Absent. Palmasano. Present. Vice Chair Koske. Present. Chair Chucktai. Present. Eight members present. Let the record reflect that we have a quorum. I will also remind my colleagues that we will be using speaker management today, so please make sure to sign in. Today we have three presentations related to the mayor's recommended 2026 budget from emergency management, human resources, and the racial equity inclusion and belonging departments. I'll first invite emergency management director Rachel Sayre to begin the first presentation. Welcome, Director. Good morning, Chair Chugtai, Vice Chair Koskey, and Council members. My name is Rachel Sayer, and I am the director of the emergency management department. I'm here today to present to you the budget overview for 2026 for the emergency management department. The emergency management department falls under the Office of Community Safety along with the other emergency response and safety components of our city government. In my department, which focuses on large-scale emergencies and disasters, we have 10 personnel, one of whom is part-time. We currently have no vacancies. First, we place the whole community in the center of our approach. This means that our work is based on the needs of the community that we serve, and that we place the humanity and dignity of our residents and visitors at the center of how we approach our work. Another fundamental principle is collaboration. Coordination and collaboration are the foundations of successful emergency management and response. We approach our work in the spirit of partnership, not worrying about receiving credit for the work we do. We just get the work done. Finally, we focus on sustainability of our programs. We must ensure that the work we undertake is doable with the staff we have, given we do not have additional budget to provide further programming.

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