On the final day of Fiscal 2026, the City Council slashed through each line item of a second proposed $483.3 million municipal budget, forcing a month-to-month budget for Fiscal 2027.

 

A special June 30 meeting that summoned councilors to the City Council Chambers heard raucous debate for more than two hours, and eventually led to councilors taking a 6-3 "no confidence" vote in Chief Financial Officer Emily Arpke before rejecting the budget for the second time.

 

Councilor Shawn Cadime reminded his colleagues that the council "holds the power of the purse-strings," he said, quoting Special Counsel to the city's Finance Department Matthew Thomas.

 

Budget talks have dragged out for months with the City Council signaling an unwillingness to approve Mayor Paul Coogan's Fiscal 2027 municipal budget.