Your 5/11/26 City Council Agenda
Happy Sunday, Ward One!
And happy Mothers’ Day! That’s my mom hauling me through the snow in front of our first house, on 38th Street in Baltimore. Since I was a little kid, I’ve loved being able to walk around the neighborhood. Now you can see where I get it from. Thanks, Mom!
But recently I’ve been spending less time outside and a more sitting in City Council Chambers or poring over my laptop as we analyze the city budget. Pedestrian safety and walkability is a priority shared by many members of this council, and you can read on below to hear about many of our other priorities.
Here are the top 3 things you need to know in Annapolis:
The Finance Committee will submit our report at tomorrow’s council meeting. If you want a crash course on the budget, this will be the best resource to learn.
Despite some controversy earlier this week, the mayor’s office has now committed that Market Space will continue as a public plaza for outdoor dining. I look forward to lease negotiations that maintain, improve, and expand the operations at Market Space.
Are you ready for Commissioning week and the Blue Angels next week?
Updates from Harry
After three weeks of Finance Committee meetings, the committee’s report will be presented at tomorrow’s council meeting. As it did last year, it begins with this quote from Governor Moore: “We know that budgets are moral documents. Where we choose to invest actually defines our values. And it dictates the course of our future.”
The Finance Committee has spent three weeks hearing from departments and weighing how investments in this budget reflect our values and set our future. At this point, I want to share with you what we heard from the departments:
The Mayor's office is focused on modernizing processes and streamlining work products. It is significantly more expensive than last year due to higher salaries, more contract services, and the new deputy chief of staff position. But they did also trim a lot from “special projects” and supply funds. Many of the investments they’re looking to make are smart for improving productivity and customer service, but we’ll see if they all meet that bar.
The City Manager had a busy transition year onboarding a new mayor, a new council, and eventually a new city manager herself. The acting city manager is looking forward to returning to her role as deputy city manager, including developing better performance metrics for the departments. Their budget is actually slightly smaller than it was in FY26.
The Office of Law has handled approximately 140 claims; drafted approximately 150 bills; and drafted and negotiated 410 documents. They’re excited to get to work with a new City Attorney. This is a pretty stable office, so likely the only change I’ll be pursuing is increasing the public information act request fees to match the cost of our lawyers’ time answering them.
The Department of Integrated Technology Services is focused on a centralization of software that will be occurring under them this coming fiscal year. In the past year, they built an AI assistant named Annie entirely in house that will soon be featured on the city website to assist with locating up to date information. I’ll be looking to provide a small funding pool in ITS for department’s to use on new AI productivity tools.
Central Services is—like ITS above—focused on centralizing costs from across the city into this one department, in order to hopefully reduce costs. They are also focused on maintaining buildings. The proposed budget adds a “risk management specialist”, but I think that funding would be better spent on a real estate manager. It also adds someone to work on facilities maintenance, which is pretty self-explanatory.
Human Resources has been led by an acting director while a permanent hire is underway, but she’s made some impressive strides. Online job applications jumped from 20% to 80% after they adopted a new applicant tracking system, and they rolled out a standardized career ladder so employees know what promotion criteria actually look like. The thing hanging over this department is Maryland's new Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act, which kicks in January 2027. This will increase employee benefit costs, but the state hasn't released the rates yet, so that cost is missing from this budget.
Finance like other departments has had acting leadership this year, but they’ve been making great strides towards standardizing operations and speeding up our audit process. The city maintains its stellar bond rating. With a new director coming on board soon, they will also be moving to new offices at 50 Shaw Street. The committee did not have specific budgetary changes for the Finance Department, but we do recommend continuing to improve processes to get our audit finished earlier, which will also make the budget process easier.
The Police Department is proud to have clearance rates for homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault that are all above the national average and to continue its proactive outreach in the community. Their persistent challenge is hiring enough officers, which is why their budget is lower than last year. But this budget proposal includes money for signing bonuses.
Fire continues to meet or exceed national response time standards, and this budget funds a peak-time unit to help with the busiest hours. The mayor has found significant state, county, and other funds to offset the costs of this, but I think we’ll still have to weigh the remaining costs against what those funds could provide in other departments.
The Office of Emergency Management helped secure the $35.5 million FEMA grant for City Dock and coordinated the city's response to winter Storm Fern. Three staff positions that were previously grant-funded have had to move onto the capital budget because the federal grants have apparently been paused. That’s a significant new expense that’s unavoidable because these positions are so crucial in such a small department.
Planning and Zoning cut residential permit review times from 27 days to 14. Commercial went from 16 days to 9. They had 240 simple permits that were able to get approved the next day. The department partially credits use of new AI software, and the committee is supportive of funding to help them take this work even further.
The TransportationDepartment runs buses at 93% on time with 100% service delivery, which are good numbers. The challenges are the same ones that have been there for a while: fixed routes that don't match where people actually want to go, low ridership, and a fare collection system that can’t accept credit cards on the bus. The committee suggests exploring expansion of Annapolis Go to Annapolis High, moving the electric shuttle back to Eastport or adding a new one, and continuing to work with the parking contractors to simplify payment.
Recreation & Parks won Public Park of the Year for the Truxtun Park tennis and pickleball courts, started its first master plan in 20 years, and successfully implemented both new and recurring events. They are struggling to hire enough life guards and possibly other seasonal workers. One big issue is that park acreage has grown without additional maintenance staff being added. I hope to fund additional upkeep of our parks.
Right now, council members are finalizing their amendments to propose for us all to vote on. The Finance committee is planning a new process to build consensus around amendments and ensure they all have appropriate cost offsets.
Here are some amendments I’m looking at that I haven’t mentioned elsewhere:
A rapid flashing beacon at the intersection of Amos Garrett and West Street
Increasing funding for roads, sidewalks, brick sidewalks, and street marking like red curbs.
Funds for traffic studies and design to improve circulation and pedestrian safety in downtown
A real estate administrator in the Department of Central Services to improve management of the city’s real estate assets.
Variable messaging boards to reduce traffic during events
Fully funding Annapolis in Bloom, the flowers downtown
Increasing the contingency fund in case we have another incident, like this year’s freak snow storm
One last thing I’m still looking at is whether we can more precisely calculate salaries and benefits costs, which could potentially save millions of dollars that could be invested or even returned to taxpayers in the form of a rate decrease.
Is there anything else you want to know about the budget? Is there anything else you think I should know? Let me know!
This week and every week, I’m grateful for the honor of representing you and our whole community. Never hesitate to contact me at harry@harrymhuntley.com.
City council agenda
Call To Order
Mayor Littmann
Moment of Silence
Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Littmann
Roll Call
City Clerk Watkins-Eldridge
Proposed Closed Session
Council is getting updates on litigation regarding City Dock.
Approval of Agenda
Ceremonial Items
Update from the Mayor
Mayor Littmann
Reports by Committees
This is when the Finance Committee will share some high level findings on the budget.
Comments by the General Public
Remember, you can come to any city council meeting to tell us about what’s important to you and your neighborhood! Register here or just show up.
Council Discussion
ID-109-26 Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County presentation and discussion of FY 2027 budget needs
Public Hearings
Note that all of this budget-related legislation will be available for public hearing at the next meeting also.
O-8-26 Annual Budget and Appropriations and Property Tax Levy
This ordinance constitutes the city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 2026 and ending June 30, 2027. It includes the Annual Operating Budget for the new fiscal year starting July 1, the Capital Budget, Capital Improvement Program 9planning for the next 5 years), appropriates money for all City spending over the next fiscal year, and levies the City's property taxes for FY 2027.
R-10-26 Annual Fees Schedule
The list of all the City's fees and the corresponding sections of the Code requiring each fee. Fees are a payment for a service (like inspecting a rental), while fines are a punishment for breaking part of the code.
R-11-26 Annual Fines Schedule
The list of the City's fines and the corresponding sections of the Code. Fines are a punishment for breaking part of the code (like walking around with an open alcohol container), while fees are a payment for a service.
R-12-26 Position Classification and Play Plan
The list of all the City's jobs, their pay rank, and the actual salary for each position.
Consent Calendar
Business & Miscellaneous
Charter Amendment First Readers
CA-2-26 Expanding the Board of Supervisors of Elections Membership
The Board of Supervisors of Elections is a lot of work! Three dedicated volunteers have put countless hours into overseeing our elections, and they have come to the conclusion that they need more hands. This legislation increases the Board to 5 members, including by adding a seat for an independent or third-party voter.
Ordinance First Readers
O-9-26 Updating the Standing Committees Section of the City Code
This adjusts what legislation is automatically referred to the Environmental Matters Committee. It may also slightly adjust the role of Finance Committee. I want to ensure legislation can move through our processes expeditiously and that it doesn’t burden staff having to come speak at too many hearings.
O-10-26 Reducing the Human Relations Commission Membership
The Human Relations Commission is much larger (15 members) than many of our other boards and commissions, so this right-sizes it. It will ensure the Commission has quorum to conduct its business.
Ordinance Second Readers
O-2-26 Mooring Requirements in City Waters
The Office of Law is going to keep working with the state Department of Natural Resources to come up with new legislation that will resolve this issue. At this time, we’ll be withdrawing the legislation.
Adjournment
Other news you can use
The Paca Garden Plant Sale is going on right now until 4 pm!
The circus is in town at Annapolis Mall with shows today at 1:30 and 4:30
Visitation restrictions at the Naval Academy will be eased on Monday, which means civilians can walk onto the yard again. Foreign nationals are still restricted though.
Friday, May 15 is bike to work day. The Transportation Department will be hosting a rider meet-up at 7:30 AM along the Poplar Trail, adjacent to the Annapolis Police Department on Taylor Avenue. From there, participants will travel together along the trail to People’s Park and on to at City Dock.
On Wednesday, the Resin Room on West Street has a class to make Glass Art and drink wine. Maybe a good last-minute Mothers’ Day present.
Next week is commissioning week. Plan ahead for Ward One to be extra busy.
Hammond Harwood House Museum has an exhibit on Framing and Finishing: Woodworking in the Colonial Age.
Please send me any events or other information you’d like advertised to your neighbors.
Have a great week, everyone!
Harry