Annual Budget Process

The City of Minneapolis annual budget process integrates information from the City's strategic and business planning processes, and capital long-range improvement committee process to establish annual resource allocations.

January-early April

Department-level assessment of prior year and planning for current year, including a first quarter status update on implementation of recent policy changes and investments

March

Preliminary prior year-end budget status report: Finance presents a year-end budget status report for the previous year to the Ways and Means/Budget Committee. This is a preliminary report because the audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) is not available until the second quarter of the year.

March-April

Capital improvement budget development

The City has a five-year capital improvement plan. Departments prepare and modify capital improvement proposals on an annual basis. Finance and Property Services, Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED), Public Works, Property Services, and the Capital Long-Range Improvements Committee (CLIC) review capital improvement proposals of the departments. CLIC is the resident advisory committee to the Mayor and the City Council on capital programming. Capital improvement proposals are due in early spring.

April-June

Operating budget development

Departments work in coordination with Finance and Property Services to prepare operating budgets based on programs. In addition to preparing operating budgets for programs, departments prepare proposals that describe policy and organizational changes with financial implications. The program proposals form the basis for the Mayor’s budget meetings with departments held in June and July.

Capital Long-Range Improvement Committee (CLIC) Process

From April through June, the CLIC Committee reviews capital requests, hears presentations from submitting departments and rates the capital requests. They prepare comments about projects and summarize their final recommendations in a report provided to the Mayor and City Council in mid-July as the starting point for their decisions on the Five-Year Capital Plan.

June-August

Mayor's Recommended Budget

The Mayor’s Recommended Budget is based on the current service level budget prepared by the Finance Department as well as program proposals, called change items, submitted by departments. These program proposals are reviewed and discussed by the submitting department, the Mayor’s Office, and staff from the Coordinator’s Office and Finance and Property Services. In addition to reviewing operating budgets, the Mayor meets with representatives from CLIC before finalizing the capital budget recommendation. Per the City Charter, the Mayor must make recommendations to the City Council on the budget no later than August 15 of each year.

September

Maximum proposed property tax levy

As a requirement of State law, the maximum proposed property tax levy increase is authorized by September 30, by the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET). The BET sets the maximum levies for the City, the Municipal Building Commission, the Public Housing Authority and Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board.

September-November

City Council budget review and development

The City Council budget review and development process begins with a series of public hearings on the budget. Departments present their Mayor’s Recommended Budget to the Committee of the Whole and Budget Sub-committee which is comprised of all Council members. Following departmental budget hearings, the Budget sub-committee amends and moves forward final budget recommendations to the full City Council. The amended budget includes any and all changes that are recommended by the Committee to the Mayor's Recommended Budget.

Truth in Taxation

Truth in Taxation (TNT) property tax statements are mailed by Hennepin County to property owners indicating the maximum amount of property taxes that the owner will be required to pay based upon the preliminary levies approved in September. These statements also indicate the dates when public hearings will be held to provide opportunities for public input. State law was changed in the 2009 legislative session to eliminate a separate TNT hearing in lieu of a mandate to allow public comments at the meeting at which the final budget adoption occurs. The City Council has maintained a separate hearing however as part of the regularly scheduled budget meetings. According to State law, the meeting at which the budget is adopted must be held after 6:00 p.m., on a date after November 24.

December

City Council budget adoption

The City Council adopts a final budget that reflects any and all changes made by the full Council to the Mayor's Recommended Budget. Once the final budget resolutions are adopted, requests from departments for additional funds or positions made throughout the year are to be brought as amendments to the original budget resolutions before the Ways and Means/Budget Committee and the City Council for approval. The independent boards and commissions adopt their own operating budgets.