Saint Paul Budget Committee Meeting: Special Fund FTEs and Q1 Budget Review (April 22, 2026)
Saint Paul Budget Committee Meeting: Special Fund FTEs and Q1 Budget Review (April 22, 2026)
The Budget Committee, chaired by Councilmember Johnson, held its first meeting of the 2026 budget cycle on April 22, 2026. Deputy Director of the Office of Financial Services (OFS) Laura Logston presented on special fund FTEs and first-quarter general fund budget-to-actuals. Councilmembers discussed the composition of the city's workforce funded through special funds, the timing of revenues and expenditures, and set the stage for upcoming budget presentations.
Discussion Items
- Special Fund FTEs: OFS reported that the 2026 adopted budget includes 780.36 FTEs funded in special funds, totaling $97.5 million in salary and fringe. 89% (696 FTEs) are supported by ongoing funding sources, while 11% (≈84 FTEs) rely on non‑ongoing sources such as grants with varying end dates. The presentation included a department-level breakdown, noting that Parks and Public Works have the highest number of special fund FTEs, while Planning and Economic Development (PED) has 100% of its staff funded through special funds (primarily HRA transfers and federal grants). Councilmember Johnson requested future breakdowns of when non‑ongoing funding lapses to anticipate potential budget risks.
- General Fund Budget-to-Actuals – Q1 2026: OFS reported that overall spending is at 24% of the annual budget, consistent with Q1 2025 (22%). Outlier explanations were provided: Emergency Management showed 86% spent due to a one-time $5.5 million dispatch payment to Ramsey County; OFS overspending reflects indirect costs not yet allocated; and PED's $870,000 is an internal admin fee. Council President Naker inquired about the mayor's office budget showing 43% spent; Logston attributed it to severance, vacation payouts, and bonus payouts for departing staff, adding that the mayor's office has completed all intended hires and the city can manage the overspend. Councilmember Johnson requested a detailed breakdown of those payouts and bonuses from HR.
- Revenue Update: Q1 revenue is at 4% of budget (similar to 7% in Q1 2025), explained by the timing of major sources: first property tax payment (end of May) and first local government aid (July). Councilmember Coleman asked about the impact of Ramsey County's two‑month property tax payment extension; Logston said uptake is low, with only tens of thousands of dollars in impact.
- Future Agenda and Presentations: Chair Johnson announced that the budget committee scope item will return in May. Confirmed presentations include: Ramsey County on biennium budgeting (May 13), a state demographer presentation (July 22), and additional department presentations after the mayor's budget address. Councilmembers discussed the need for year‑to‑date budgeting columns, a “cost of doing business” analysis, a minimum levy education effort, and tracking of top revenue generators.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken. The committee acknowledged the information provided and requested follow‑up data from HR on mayor's office payouts and from OFS on historical FTE trends.
- The committee will continue to refine the budget‑to‑actuals reporting format, potentially adding year‑to‑date columns.
- The next budget committee meeting is scheduled for May 13, 2026, featuring a presentation from Ramsey County on their biennium budget approach.
- The meeting was adjourned after approximately one hour.
Meeting Transcript
Now we've had some debate about whether a roll call is required, but we're still gonna do it in the spirit of formality because it's our first budget committee. So go ahead. Here. Councilmember Bowie. Here. Councilmember Coleman? Here. Councilmember Kim. Councilmember Joe's? Here. Council Council President Maker? Here. Right. Six present and one expected shortly being Councilmember Kim. I'm here too. Oh sorry. See, this is why we should not do roll calls. This is exactly why we should roll call. Chair Johnson. Here. So one just really want to say I am very excited to have this be the first uh budget committee that I have the privilege to chair along with my vice chair. I'm super excited about this year and the year ahead. I um also really appreciate the time that the Office of Financial Services staff and team have taken to actually be able to present today, and really just want to acknowledge that you guys are maneuvering a bunch of different things right now, and so just want to say thank you for being here in person and then also for um all of the work that had to go on the back end uh for this presentation. It'll match the HRA presentation later on this afternoon. But um, Director Logson, I I just want to say thank you and welcome. Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much, Chair Johnson and Council members for having me today. Really appreciate it. Um and Laura Logston, I'm Deputy Director of OFS. Um before I jump into the presentation, I want to welcome Joe Harney, who's our new um OFS director. Um, I believe he'll be in front of council this afternoon to be sworn in, so you'll see him again soon. Um, but welcome Joe. I'm gonna say, should we call him up now and be like, hey, come in and then okay. I won't stick your thunder from it, but you know, um, I might call you up afterwards to say a few words. I'll prefer all questions to the OFS director. Um so great. I will I will jump in. Are you seeing the PowerPoint? We are. Okay, perfect. Um, so today I'll be presenting information that the council budget committee requested recently regarding the city special fund FTEs and the general fund budget to actuals for quarter one of 2026. I want to thank the OFS budget team and the accounting team and our department partners, um, finance leads across the department for their um work on putting all this information together. So first I'm gonna start with the special fund FTEs. Um I provided the kind of detailed Excel spreadsheet. Um so you all have should have access to that information. You can dig in, you can cut the data any way you want. Um, but it's it's really useful, really interesting data. Um what we um have in the 2026 adopted budget is 780.36 um FTEs funded in special funds, and that represents 97.5 million dollars, um both a salary and fringe. Um those FTEs are paid for really by a diverse array of revenue sources. Um I've got some examples on this slide in the table at the bottom that shows the FTE count and the total cost by fund type, and then um examples of what those revenue sources are that um are within those funds.
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