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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Minneapolis Budget Committee Meeting – October 22, 2026

City Council — Thursday, October 22, 2026

BodyMinneapolis, Minnesota

SessionCity Council

DateThursday, October 22, 2026

StatusNEW · FILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:54:53

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Speaker 1

0:12

Good morning.

0:13

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

0:16

I'm going to call to order our adjourn meeting for October 22nd, 2026.

0:21

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.

0:30

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

0:37

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.

0:44

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

0:48

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

Speaker 2

0:54

Councilmember Payne.

Speaker 3

0:55

Present.

Speaker 2

0:56

Wandsley is absent.

0:58

Rainville is absent.

1:00

Veto.

Deshani Dye · Speaker 4Inferred

1:01

Present.

Speaker 2

1:02

Warren is absent.

1:04

Osman is absent.

1:06

Stevenson is absent.

1:09

Chavez.

Speaker 5

1:10

Present.

Speaker 2

1:10

Whiteing is absent.

1:13

Chowdry.

1:14

Present.

1:14

Paul Masano.

1:16

Present.

1:16

Vice Chair Schaefer.

1:18

Present.

Unassigned speaker

1:19

And

Speaker 2

1:19

Chair Chick Tire.

Speaker 1

1:20

Present.

Speaker 2

1:20

There's some seven members present.

Speaker 1

1:22

Let the record reflect that we have a quorum.

1:24

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

1:30

Today we have three presentations related to the mayor's recommended 2027 budget from finance and property services, communications, and assessing departments.

1:39

I'll first invite the city's chief financial officer, Dushani Dye to begin our first presentation.

1:45

Welcome, Director.

Deshani Dye · Speaker 4Inferred

1:48

Thank you.

1:49

Good morning, uh, Chair, budget committee.

1:52

My name is Deshani Dye.

1:53

I serve as the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Minneapolis, and I I'm also the head of the Finance and Property Services Department.

2:01

I'll be presenting the FPS budget this morning.

Speaker 1

2:08

Director, if we can have the mic closer to you.

2:12

Awesome.

2:12

Thank

Unassigned speaker

2:13

you.

Deshani Dye · Speaker 4Inferred

2:14

As the budget chair is aware this morning, uh, several CFOs from very large cities showed up in Minneapolis this morning, and we're hosting the CFO forum.

2:25

Um so I will need to step out after the overview slides, and I'll be handing over the presentation to Deputy CFO DeCenza at that time.

2:34

Uh this is an important opportunity for Minneapolis to showcase all the great things that we're doing in Minneapolis, not only in the finance department, but as a city as a whole.

2:45

We'll be doing some tours of our great facilities later this afternoon.

2:50

We're happy to have uh the CFOs from the cities across the United States this morning.

2:56

And they'll be here through um Friday.

2:58

Uh so you'll you may see them around in City Hall.

Unassigned speaker

3:09

Um,

Deshani Dye · Speaker 4Inferred

3:09

as you can see, Finance and Property Services Department uh is within the Internal Services uh section of Office of Public Service.

3:20

Uh there are 10 divisions within uh finance and property services with a 293 FDE complement in the 2026 budget.

3:30

The 2027 proposed budget is 75.8 million, which is a 10.3 million dollar increase from the prior year.

3:41

Our mission statement is to provide essential financial resource and asset management services and engage enterprise partners in decision making.

Unassigned speaker

4:01

As

Deshani Dye · Speaker 4Inferred

4:02

I mentioned earlier, uh there are 10 divisions within uh the finance and property services department.

4:09

Uh the CFO uh has direct reports of banking investment and debt, budget development finance and property services, as well as the deputy financial uh finance officer.

Unassigned speaker

4:23

Uh

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Budget Management█████████████████████████████████████████████54%

Community Engagement██████████████17%

Taxation█████████11%

Procedural█████6%

Property Management████5%

Personnel Matters███3%

Pending Litigation█1%

Technology and Innovation█1%

Enterprise Risk Management█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Minneapolis Budget Committee Meeting – October 22, 2026

The Budget Committee met on October 22, 2026, at 9:00 AM to review the Mayor's recommended 2027 budgets for the Finance and Property Services, Communications, and Assessing departments. Presentations and discussions focused on budget changes, staffing impacts, and proposed service reductions. No votes were taken; reports were filed with administrative follow-ups requested.

Finance and Property Services Department Presentation

CFO Dushani Dye and Deputy CFO Jane DeSenza presented a proposed 2027 budget of $75.8 million, a $10.3 million increase from 2026. Key changes include $4 million for settlement agreement funds, 4 new FTEs in property services (two custodians, one plumber, one engineer), and a net increase of 1 FTE overall. The department has 10 divisions and 293 FTEs in 2026.
Councilmember Chowdry questioned payroll consolidation with the Park Board (described as a “non-starter”) and asked about vacancies and contractual services. Deputy CFO DeSenza noted 7 vacancies in property services (3 in security) and that professional services contracts total about $1.3 million of $27.3 million in contractual services.
Vice Chair Schaefer clarified that the Utility Billing Division is general fund supported but fully reimbursed by enterprise funds.
The report was filed with a follow-up on the 4% general fund support for property services.

Communications Department Presentation

Deputy COO Katie Topinka and Interim Director Chris Kelly presented a proposed 2027 budget of $3.8 million, a decrease from $4 million in 2026. The budget includes a $14,000 investment for Sprout Social (social media management tool) and a reduction of 3 FTEs (from 22 to 19).
The presentation highlighted centralization of communications, which was intended to be budget neutral. Early results include 40% more multimedia projects, 229 creative requests from 19 departments, and 23 campaign-scale projects.
Councilmembers Chavez, Chowdry, Osman, and Stevenson strongly opposed the elimination of cultural media funding (a $100,000 cut). This cut would end radio shows serving Latino, Hmong, Somali, Oromo, African American, and Native American communities. Councilmember Stevenson noted the cut conflicts with the after-action review following the murder of George Floyd, which recommended improved communication with non-English speakers.
Councilmember Palmasano expressed support for the consolidation model. Vice Chair Schaefer requested details on the increased PEG fees (going to Speak Minneapolis) and asked whether the Sprout Social tool could assist council social media.
The report was filed with follow-ups requested on cultural media listenership data and 2026 performance metrics from the consolidation.

Assessing Department Presentation

City Assessor Rebecca Anderson presented a proposed 2027 budget of $6.9 million, a decrease of $497,000 (6.7%) from 2026. The reduction requires cutting 5 FTEs (from 38 to 33), despite the budget book stating 4.
The department’s budget is 82% salary and benefits. Staffing cuts will increase workload per residential appraiser by 24% and total workload by 20%. Service impacts include longer response times, fewer inspections, reduced capacity for complex valuation research, and less individualized taxpayer assistance.
The department manages 25,000 quintile valuations per year and litigates 223 tax court cases involving $4.4 billion in market value.
Councilmember Palmasano acknowledged the anticipated impacts. Vice Chair Schaefer asked about appeal trends (which have increased the last two years) and the appeals process for commercial properties, noting challenges for downtown properties with significant value loss.
The report was filed with no additional follow-ups noted.

Key Outcomes

All three department presentations were filed as informational.
Follow-ups were requested for: Finance and Property Services – details on 4% general fund investment; Communications – cultural media listenership data and 2026 performance metrics; Assessing – no formal follow-ups requested.
No votes or decisions were taken; the committee will reconvene on October 23, 2026, for budget presentations from the Youth Coordinating Board, Parks and Recreation Board, and Convention Center and Downtown Assets.

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 adjourn meeting for October 22nd, 2026. 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 the quorum. Councilmember Payne. Present. Wandsley is absent. Rainville is absent. Veto. Present. Warren is absent. Osman is absent. Stevenson is absent. Chavez. Present. Whiteing is absent. Chowdry. Present. Paul Masano. Present. Vice Chair Schaefer. Present. And Chair Chick Tire. Present. There's some seven members present. Let the record reflect that we have a quorum. I'll also remind my colleagues that we're using speaker management today, so please make sure to sign in. Today we have three presentations related to the mayor's recommended 2027 budget from finance and property services, communications, and assessing departments. I'll first invite the city's chief financial officer, Dushani Dye to begin our first presentation. Welcome, Director. Thank you. Good morning, uh, Chair, budget committee. My name is Deshani Dye. I serve as the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Minneapolis, and I I'm also the head of the Finance and Property Services Department. I'll be presenting the FPS budget this morning. Director, if we can have the mic closer to you. Awesome. Thank you. As the budget chair is aware this morning, uh, several CFOs from very large cities showed up in Minneapolis this morning, and we're hosting the CFO forum. Um so I will need to step out after the overview slides, and I'll be handing over the presentation to Deputy CFO DeCenza at that time. Uh this is an important opportunity for Minneapolis to showcase all the great things that we're doing in Minneapolis, not only in the finance department, but as a city as a whole. We'll be doing some tours of our great facilities later this afternoon. We're happy to have uh the CFOs from the cities across the United States this morning. And they'll be here through um Friday.

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