Written by Tanya Terry
Late on Wednesday, July 11, the Flint City Council voted to adopt the 24-25 budget for fiscal year 26 with a vote of 7-0.
The council listened to a presentation by the Finance Department and had several questions answered at the June 11 meeting.
The Council’s President Ladel Lewis and Vice President Candice Mushatt issued the following joint statement after the passing of the budget:
“Tonight’s passage of the budget is a clear demonstration of what can be accomplished when this body comes together to serve the best interests of the residents of Flint. We are proud to assure our over 500 dedicated city employees that their jobs are secure, and we can provide peace of mind to our residents knowing that essential city services will continue uninterrupted. We are committed to Flint staying on the path of progression .” –
Mushatt, who represents the city’s 7th Ward, talked to the Courier about why she voted to pass the budget.
“I think the biggest reason was the fact that we found something we could all compromise on,” she stated. “The budget from 2024-2025 was a budget that everyone was comfortable with getting passed.
“We were looking at the fact that if we didn’t get it passed today-and a lot of people were not available for Friday-then on Monday we would have had the first round of layoff notices placed in hands. So, the focus had to be those over 500 employees that would suffer, all because we couldn’t come up with some kind of compromise that we were all comfortable with. We were looking at city services being interrupted. So, this was the best path moving forward.
“We still have the option to amend different things that come before us. But, it was just important to get to a place of compromise and make sure that the over 500 employees would still be employed and not have to worry about their future, as well as city services continuing.”
Because the council agreed to adopt the 24-25 budget for 2026, the administration will assume responsibility for paying required increases for all collective bargaining units, as well as employee wages. This also covers pension costs and fringe benefits.
“Then, we adopted the proposed fiscal year 26 budget for all of the special revenue, debt services, capital improvements and water funds,” added Mushatt.
Mushatt said she believed “there was a lot of outside noise, and there wasn’t enough of council working together,” which led to the budget not being passed by the charter-imposed deadline.
“I think that if council members would have come to budget hearings, some of the things…they would have been able to get answers about. I also feel that if council members would have come to budget hearings, we would have been able to go line item, by line item – and that would have made a difference, as well.”
Mushatt said it was unfortunate that the budget was not passed when it should have been, but she is happy the council was able to find a compromise. She clarified herself by saying she was not pleased the council was not able to find a better budget, but happy for the employees who will keep their jobs and because city services will not be interrupted.
Although the budget was passed nine days after the charter-imposed deadline, it was finalized three weeks before the new fiscal year begins on July .1 The council had previously voted to extend the 2025 fiscal year until June 30.
The City is also expected to see increased revenue once the state begins processing city income tax returns.
