By Adam Swift
City councillors are planning to continue a discussion on when it should hold the ways and means subcommittee meetings for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
At last week’s meeting, Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro introduced a motion seeking that the start time for the ways and means subcommittee meetings be exempt from the city’s public meeting time ordinance.
“Right now, we are supposed to meet no earlier than 5 p.m.,” said Cogliandro. “The reason I want to … make this change is mostly for the department heads that have to report (on the) budget, they are all showing up here after work hours, and they are not getting overtime to be here. I feel we would get more and better representation about the budget if we did it during their working hours in the building they work in.”
Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto initially said he had some concerns about the motion for earlier start times for the budget meetings and the effect it would have on citizens who want to take part in the process in person.
“I think department heads have an obligation to be at the ways and means meetings whenever they are,” he said.
Councillor-at-Large Robert Haas III noted that the earlier start times could also make it difficult for councillors who have 9-5 jobs to attend.
Cogliandro said he was not trying to limit citizen and councillor participation, but to streamline and improve the budget process.
“This will help the public, because they will get to hear and see the faces of the people that are working for them,” Cogliandro said.
By starting the ways and means committee meetings earlier, Cogliandro said it might be possible to whittle down the budget process from the four days of meetings the subcommittee currently holds to a day or two. He said there would also be opportunities for public and council input during a committee of the whole meeting on the budget, and prior to the full council vote.
Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya said she supported Cogliandro’s motion, noting the length of the budget process and the desire to get budget information directly from the department heads.
Zambuto said he would support further discussion of the motion in a legislative affairs subcommittee meeting to come to an agreement.
“If I can be convinced that this works for the citizens, the city council, or the ways and means committee, I will support it,” said Zambuto. “I think we need to discuss it a little bit further in committee.”
