A Half-Dozen Quick and Dirty Notes From the FY2026 Budget Meeting

1. Mayor Rourke Absent

Vice Mayor Yem filled in.

Not going to lie, it was shaky at times, but he managed to land the plane.

2. We Drown In Parking Debt Yet Throw Ourselves Bricks

There was a Public Hearing on a Loan Order of $3.6M for the Parking Enterprise Fund.

Councilor Descoteaux noted concern with the parking Enterprise Fund‘s failure to live up to its “self-sufficient” mission. Indeed, this year, you and I will be paying $2.67M into the enterprise fund to subsidize somebody else’s car storage. Further, as illustrated by the chart above, the fund is projected to remain in the red (very red) for years to come. Councilor Descoteaux inquired as to whether privatization was an option.

That’s the second time in recent months Councilor Descoteaux has flirted with the concept of privatization. I’m not sure if he’s in favor of privatization or is just riffing. What I do know is that starting in 2022 and up to early 2024, CFO Baldwin sounded the alarm on our parking fund and recommended a rate increase to stop the bleeding.

However, people enjoying underpriced parking bitched, the council caved and opted for half-assed measures:

The Parking Enterprise Fund is in need of rate increase in order for the fund to be self-sufficient.
After listening to feedback from the residents and the Finance Subcommittee the Golden administration proposed fees increases in conjunction with the FY24 budget. During the public hearing for the budget many residents came out to speak against these increases and subsequently this matter was referred back to the Finance Subcommittee for further deliberation. In August of 2023 the Finance Team and the Parking Director met with the Finance Subcommittee again and restructured our original proposals based on the feedback the administration had received.

There’s no magic to privatization. A private entity would simply do what we refuse to:   raise prices and pocket the profit. Frustrating.

3. We’re All Trying to Figure Out Who Did This

While on the topic of parking, Councilor Mercier noted that there’s already a privately owned garage in the HCD – the much-maligned Lupoli Garage.

Councilor Mercier inquired “out of curiosity” as to what the city “gets” from this garage. I found the question itself “curious” as Councilor Mercier supported the initial agreement with Lupoli. The answer, of course, is…not much. We don’t receive a slice of the revenues, and to add insult to injury, we granted Lupoli a tax break on the property itself…that I could have sworn Councilor Mercier voted for.

4. Now That’s a Fit

You can’t just walk into the mall and pull that off a rack, right? Has to be custom. 10/10.

That’s how you dress for the goddamned budget meeting.

5. You Can’t Add to the Budget, But You Can Vote For a Supplemental Appropriation. Which, To Me, Looks A Lot Like Adding. But It’s Not.

Prolly the most contentious item on this year’s budget was the well-reported $4M reduction in cash contributions from the city to the School Department. On May 13, Superintendent Skinner appeared before the Council and implored the Manager to restore the $4M in expected cash to the schools. At that time, councilors asked the manager to work with the superintendent to find a solution.

Unfortunately, those talks wet nowhere as there was no bump in cash contributions to be found in the budget. However, last night, Councilor Descoteaux made a motion to move $2M from the stabilization fund to the schools to help offset the $4M loss.

Prior to a roll-call vote of 10-0 in favor, there was some discussion with CFO Baldwin as to what effect this move would have on city finances and credit rating. In essence, as long as we can replenish our savings, we’ll be fine.

6. Take a Bow: Everyone Is Happy (Enough) With the Budget

This year’s budget is $617M+. The document itself is 751 pages. There’s so much information about how our city is organized and operates, it’s staggering.

Can you imagine what it must take to put this thing together? Serious credit is due to the finance team for getting us to this point each year.

Indeed, the ending of the meeting was reserved for councilor comments on the budget and each noted satisfaction with the budget and thanked the manager’s office. Many councilors noted that they could have saved a buck here or there, but there was no appetite to make any subtractions, and the budget was adopted without controversy.

Now we can all hold our breath and see if the dismantling of the federal government will crush us next year!

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