Minneapolis Budget Committee Reviews 2027 HR Budget and Settlement Agreement Work, October 13, 2026

The Minneapolis City Council Budget Committee met on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, with Chair Aisha Chugtai presiding. A quorum was confirmed after roll call. The committee received two staff presentations: the mayor's recommended 2027 Human Resources department budget and a financial review of settlement agreement/consent decree work related to the Minneapolis Police Department. No formal votes were taken; both presentations were filed. A technology improvement plan presentation was rescheduled to the afternoon of October 26. The committee adjourned until Monday, October 19, 2026, at 6:05 p.m. for the second public hearing on the 2027 budget.

Human Resources Department 2027 Recommended Budget

Chief Human Resources Officer Nikki Odom presented the mayor's recommended 2027 HR budget. The recommended 2027 operating budget is approximately $11.2 million; recommended 2027 expenses total approximately $11.24 million, compared with $11.45 million in the 2026 adopted budget, a decrease of about $203,000. The recommendation removes six positions and approximately $899,000 from HR, representing six of 62 positions, or roughly one-tenth of the department. Revenue is unchanged from 2026 and includes partner-agency contributions supporting Urban Scholars. The budget also includes about $2.3 million in fringe benefits and about $1.7 million in contractual services.

Odom reported that HR turnover has fallen from about 40% when she started to about 4%, and the city's overall turnover rate is 8%. The share of separations involving BIPOC employees fell from 56% in 2025 to 44% in 2026, a 12-percentage-point decrease. She noted recognition including the 2026 Finance and Commerce Empowering Women Award, with women holding 45% of executive leadership roles and 50% of director roles, and a state pay equity score that improved by 5% to 97%.

Odom said Workday implementation is HR's top 2027 priority; design, architecture, and implementation work will occupy 50%, sometimes 60% or more, of time for many HR staff. Testing is expected to begin around mid-Q2 and continue through at least Q3. With fewer staff, departments should expect longer turnaround times for some requests, and some activities may be deferred. Staffing-reduction placement is not finalized, so division allocations may change. She also said the Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (REIB) office will move to OPS rather than HR because most REIB work does not align with HR.

Council members' questions and positions included:

• Councilmember Palmisano asked why REIB was not in the presentation and requested a written list of HR's major contracts. Odom agreed to provide the list.
• Councilmember Chavez expressed strong support for Urban Scholars and concern about the program shrinking; Odom said there is a direct correlation between external partnerships and the number of scholars supported.
• Councilmember Wita praised the improvements in HR turnover and BIPOC separation rates and asked where the six position cuts would be made; Odom said decisions are close but not finalized.
• Vice Chair Schaefer asked about vacancies; Odom said the department has about three vacancies, one when the report was completed, not 14. She clarified that HR business partners are the strategic conduit to departments, with HR representatives in a more operational support role.
• Councilmember Chowdhury asked about Workday governance; Odom said the CFO, CHRO, and CIO are project sponsors, supported by a project team of more than 20 people across involved departments and specialties, an external implementation partner, and Workday as the HCM/ERP vendor. The 2028 budget increase to about $11.7 million is driven by salary, rent, and insurance inflation, not new resources. She expected OPS or the CAO's office to notify council about the six FTE decisions next week.
• The Chair noted park board data showing city HR costs per FTE of about $11,200 versus the park board's $3,500, within an industry range of $9,000-$14,000; Odom said she could not speculate without knowing what the park board included and offered to investigate.

Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree Financial Review

Deputy Commissioner of Community Safety Jared Jeffries led a cross-departmental presentation with representatives from the City Attorney's Office, Civil Rights, IT, and MPD. Jennifer Saunders explained that the settlement agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights was issued as a court order on July 13, 2023; it is 144 pages with over 400 paragraphs. Topic areas include non-discriminatory policing, use of force, stops, searches, arrests, citations, body-worn and in-car cameras, training, officer support and wellness, behavioral crisis response, accountability and oversight, and data systems and transparency. The independent evaluator, LIFA (Effective Law Enforcement for All), has issued an updated two-year evaluation plan and semi-annual reports; the court ultimately decides compliance, followed by one- or two-year sustained compliance periods.

Ganesha Martin, MPD Bureau Chief of Constitutional Policing, described the reform framework: policy, training, data/technology, audits, and wellness. Over 14 use-of-force policies have been approved, with training effective January 2026 and audits underway. Policies for stops, searches, citations, and arrests have been approved, and training is being developed. The hours-worked policy has been approved but is not yet effective because training has not been delivered; monitoring is being developed because some officers are currently working more than the current limit.

Financial highlights:

• Most settlement spending comes from the general fund, with a small internal-service-fund portion for IT personnel and services.
• Personnel figures reflect FTEs specifically created and funded for the settlement agreement; they do not include staff who split time between settlement and other duties.
• Civil Rights expanded its investigator complement from 8 to 11 in 2024.
• Contract spending was previously handled through department reimbursement; the 2027 recommendation shifts to a dedicated Finance-held fund. Recommended additions total roughly $4 million: $1.5 million for the LIFA contract, about $2.4 million for ongoing needs such as training, system improvements, and internal affairs supervisory review, and $100,000 in one-time implementation assistance; $3.95 million is recommended as ongoing.
• Civil Rights' outside investigator contract, begun in 2024, is expected to close by the end of 2026; total spend by then is about $1 million and outside partners will have completed more than 70 misconduct investigations. The 2027 recommendation includes $386,000 to continue the three in-house investigators added in 2024.
• The City Attorney's Office 2027 budget includes $471,000 in personnel and $1.5 million in contractual funding for the LIFA contract.
• IT's recommended 2027 budget is just under $511,000 for FTEs focused on data, process, and project management.
• Capital work includes the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center, planning for the North Minneapolis Community Safety Center, and facility improvements under the facilities improvement plan. CLIC has recommended $19 million in capital funding through 2030 for a new community safety training and wellness center; 2027 funding supports planning and design.

Council members' questions and positions included:

• Council President Payne asked how MPD's divestment of 17 non-sworn vacant positions, including seven in constitutional policing and four in professional standards, affects settlement work. Martin said the positions are still being identified. Jeffries said the city contracts out for some training development, misconduct investigations, and certain IT implementations, while aiming to build long-term in-house capacity in internal affairs and the Office of Police Conduct Review (OPCR).
• Payne asked about the $100,000 OCS administrative contract; Jeffries confirmed it is an anticipated continuation of the Danny Murphy contract, subject to procurement, for high-level implementation comparison and change management.
• Payne said the city has spent about $20 million on implementation over 2023-2025 and that the visible impact so far was four pieces of policy trained on, while acknowledging the staff's hard work. Martin responded that use-of-force policy and training have been significant and that policy, training, and accountability processes are essential baseline work. Payne repeated his ongoing concern about the return on investment.
• Vice Chair Schaefer asked whether current technology supports the audit work; Martin said no. The current RMS vendor was assessed as unable to demonstrate compliance, an RFI for a new RMS is underway, and a federal funding request has reached the second tier. More detail is expected at the technology improvement plan presentation on October 26.
• Schaefer asked which positions are required by the settlement agreement; Martin said assessments identified a health and wellness director plus an analyst and a program manager. Jeffries said the community safety training/wellness center planning report should be completed by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
• Councilmember Palmisano summarized recommended 2027 settlement-related spending as about $5.8 million in capital costs, $5.865 million in personnel, and $4.05 million held by Finance for contracts, totaling about $16 million. Jeffries said this captures most of the settlement-related work, possibly excluding some IT system funds.
• Councilmember Chavez said the city is not in alignment with year-one and year-two settlement requirements, called that unacceptable and, in her opinion, out of compliance, and said residents will not receive the police services they deserve.

Key Outcomes

• No formal votes were taken; both presentations were filed.
• HR's 2027 recommended budget with six FTE reductions was presented; final division-level placement is pending, with council notification expected from OPS or the CAO's office next week.
• HR will provide a written list of major contracts; Odom will look into the park board per-FTE comparison.
• The settlement agreement presentation outlined a recommended shift to a dedicated Finance-held contract fund and continued capital planning for a training/wellness center.
• The technology improvement plan presentation is rescheduled to October 26; the committee's next meeting is October 19, 2026, at 6:05 p.m.