The Minneapolis City Council ended what City Council President Elliott Payne called “the hardest budget season I’ve been in” on Dec. 9 and approved an amended $2.03 billion dollar budget for 2026. Mayor Jacob Frey signed the budget on Dec. 16 without vetoing any amendments, a stark difference from last year's budget process.

This follows weeks of review, hearings, discussion, and the passage of 43 budget amendments and additions. Only 12 of the 13 council members participated in this year’s final budget decisions because of Council Member Jeremiah Ellison’s absence.

And “the hardest budget season” may not be over. Mayor Jacob Frey hasn’t signed the budget and if he vetoes it, as he did last year, the council will need to reconvene to consider overturning his veto. Nine votes are needed to override a mayoral veto.

Divided vote on capital budget

The council unanimously approved six of the seven major budget resolutions, but were divided on the adoption of a six-year capital program resolution that funds city buildings, roads, bridges, pipes and other physical infrastructure.  

Council Members Jamal Osman (Ward 6), Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8), and Linea Palmisano (Ward 13) in Southwest voted against the capital program because it did not include $5.5 million for a proposed Public Safety Training and Wellness Center. LaTrisha Vetaw (Ward 4) and Michael Rainville (Ward 3) also voted against the capital program.

“This police training facility that has been worked on for six years is a big part of the capital program and a big part of the bonding ask that is important to me,” said Palmisano before voting. “I do hope this is something we can come to a resolution on at the beginning of next term.”

Funding for the center was recommended in Frey’s proposed budget but was removed by an amendment authored by Council Member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2). That amendment repurposed the money to fund protected bikeways, traffic safety improvements, and sidewalk ramp replacements, which passed with the same 7-5 vote.

“We already have a $4.6 million contract with Wellness That Fits to address mental health needs of MPD officers through 40 trainings a year. An additional wellness center would give preferential treatment to members of MPD above other departments,” said Council Member Katie Cashman (Ward 7), adding that the Capital Long-Range Improvement Commission “did not approve this proposal because they did not believe that building a new facility for $5.5 million was necessary to comply with the city’s settlement agreement.”

Salary increase for the mayor

Salaries increases for elected officials were also approved, which can only be changed at the end of a council and mayoral term in Minneapolis.

The council approved a salary increase of $46,000 for the mayor, with the new salary set at $187,000 starting on Jan. 2, 2026, informed by a study of peer cities. They voted to keep the salary for council members at $109,846 for 2026 and 2027, but approved cost-of-living adjustments in 2028 and 2029 that match the “percentage received by the majority of collective bargaining units approved by the city council in the preceding year.”

Budget amendments

Southwest council members wrote or co-wrote 23 of the 43 amendments that passed. Budget Committee Chair and Council Member Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10) wrote or co-wrote 12. Osman was involved with nine amendments, Council Member Katie Cashman (Ward 7) was involved with six, Jenkins with two, and Council Member Emily Koski (Ward 11) with five. Palmisano did not write or co-write a single amendment.

Safety and good governance dominated much of the budget discussions, but amendments covered a variety of issues including sustainability, transportation, community engagement, immigrant rights, housing, health, worker protections and economic development.

These areas paralleled the mayor’s budget priorities of community safety and police reform, good governance, economic inclusion and recovery, climate action and public health, affordable housing and homelessness response.

The council approved amendments including those restoring funding for emergency housing vouchers, funding $1 million for emergency shelter operations, funding a sidewalk snow removal pilot program, raising electric and gas franchise fees, funding immigrant and refugee staff and legal surfaces, supporting public access media, establishing fees for police off-duty work, and adding public bathrooms on Nicollet Avenue.  

An amendment restoring money for civilian investigators in the Minneapolis Police Department included a resolution that urged Frey to immediately terminate the city’s contract with ZenCity Technologies US Inc. for its community perception surveying work. Palmisano voted against this amendment but it ultimately passed.

An amendment to fund a zero-waste project manager and work group authored by Osman, Cashman and Council Member Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 12) passed as did the amendment to fund labor standards co-enforcement groups they co-authored with Chughtai and Koski.

Osman also successfully passed amendments to increase opioid treatment funding for underserved communities in South Minneapolis and secured $100,000 to fund safety initiatives in Stevens Square.

An amendment to study how commercial space can be reutilized passed, authored by Cashman. An amendment to fund $800,000 a year to subdivide large retail space in Downtown West also passed, authored by Chughtai and Cashman.

One notable amendment that failed to pass, despite support from Southwest Council Members Jenkins, Koski and Palmisano, would have cut funds to council staff by $242,994 to provide additional crime prevention specialists in the 1st and 4th MPD Precincts. It failed on a 5-7 vote.

Another amendment to add four staff to the Auditor’s Office, that ultimately passed, first proposed cutting funds from the Mayor’s Office.

Some council members expressed objections about the funding source for these new positions. In negotiations, other council members suggested cutting unfilled positions in the Public Works and Community Planning and Economic Development departments.

Cashman, who voted in favor of the amendment in the end, objected to the change.

“I do have some concerns that Public Works and CPED are getting their positions taken away,” said Cashman. “I’m just disappointed that instead of cutting from politically appointed political operatives in the city, we are cutting from more core city services for this.”

Strengthened financial policies

Chughtai and Koski joined Wonsley to author and pass a “Budgetary Control Financial Policy” intended to address overspending by some departments and others failing to implement council adopted spending initiatives.

This followed recent reports from city staff that the MPD overspent more than $19 million this year and the realization some departments failed to implement council budget initiatives that were approved last year, including adding MPD civilian inspectors and providing emergency housing vouchers.

Under the new policy, if a department overspends it must submit a report to the city council that explains the overage and a proposed corrective action plan. Any department that exceeds its annual budget must submit monthly budget status reports to the council the following year.

Additionally, the new policy creates a category of expenditures called “Council Dedicated Funds.” These dedicated funds may not be expended or reallocated unless approved by the council.  

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