City Officials Detail Proposed Job Cuts in Mayor's 2027 Budget | The Minneapolis Recorder

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StoryMayor's Recommended 2027 Budget: Proposed FTE Reductions and HR ProcessNovember 3, 2026

City Officials Detail Proposed Job Cuts in Mayor's 2027 Budget

Human resources leaders told the Budget Committee that the number of positions marked for elimination does not equal the number of employees who will lose their jobs.

Published Nov 11, 2026

Minneapolis budget officials walked the City Council's Budget Committee through the proposed full-time-equivalent reductions in the Mayor's Recommended 2027 Budget on June 16, outlining how departments arrived at a final list of positions and how the city's human resources process will treat affected workers.

Chief Human Resources Officer Nikki Odum opened the presentation by urging committee members to separate the number of positions on paper from the number of people who would actually leave the city payroll.

One one distinction to keep in mind throughout, the number of positions identified for elimination does not establish the number of employees who will ultimately leave city employment.
— Nikki Odum, Chief Human Resources Officer

The committee voted to file the presentation after the discussion.

From placeholders to a final list

Budget Director Sean Green of Finance and Property Services explained that the figures presented to the committee differ from those in the initial recommended budget because the earlier document used placeholder positions to reach a balanced bottom line.

The difference is that when we did the initial recommended budget, we put in um to create a balanced budget kind of placeholders in the individual positions, which align with the total amount that was reduced to the department. So, in the proposed budget kind of the binding proposal is the recommended reduced amount in dollars to that department. And so, after going through the exercise with business justifications, looking at positions, coming up with this final list, this is now to manage within budget the final number of FTEs that will be reduced.
— Sean Green, Budget Director, Finance and Property Services

Other Topics from This Document

City's Long-Term Financial Outlook and Revenue Projections
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Full analysis

Votes (1)

Presentation on Mayor's Recommended 2027 Budget: Proposed FTE Reductions

Presentation Filed

Nikki Odum presented on 94 proposed position eliminations, evenly split between vacant and filled, with 72% being union positions. The discussion covered HR processes for employee displacement, bumping, and the job bank, along with timelines for employee notifications. Council members queried the selection process for reductions, the engagement with unions, the accuracy of figures compared to the budget book, and the city's stance on alternatives like furloughs and early retirement incentives. Concerns were raised about the disproportionate impact on union and legislative staff, and the broader long-term financial health of the city.

Notable Quotes (4)

One one distinction to keep in mind throughout, the number of positions identified for elimination does not establish the number of employees who will ultimately leave city employment.
— Nikki Odum, Chief Human Resources Officer [Timestamp]

Presentation on Mayor's Recommended 2027 Budget: Proposed FTE Reductions

the difference is that when we did the initial recommended budget, we put in um to create a balanced budget kind of placeholders in the individual positions, which align with the total amount that was reduced to the department. So, in the proposed budget kind of the binding proposal is the recommended reduced amount in dollars to that department. And so, after going through the exercise with business justifications, looking at positions, coming up with this final list, this is now to manage within budget the final number of FTEs that will be reduced.
— Sean Green, Budget Director of Finance and Property Services [Timestamp]

Presentation on Mayor's Recommended 2027 Budget: Proposed FTE Reductions

very specifically, when you do an early retirement program, first of all, it doesn't usually save money in the short term. It also um it we have no ability to discuss with the employees, and so you can lose a lot of knowledge out of the organization very quickly, knowledge and experience. And that is uh can be a risk to to the organization as well, that you might you know, you might have in one department uh 30% eligible employees for retirement, and in another department, you have hardly any, and you end up having a disparate effect on a department and the knowledge base of the city, and really can't have any um ability to control for that.
— Margaret Anderson Kelliher, City Operations Officer [Timestamp]

Presentation on Mayor's Recommended 2027 Budget: Proposed FTE Reductions

increasingly our revenues are not matching up with our costs even as we look to the long-term forecast the next 3 to 5 years. And so I guess it's kind of a little bit the elephant in the room is we're really focused on the 2027 budget and adjacently of the 2028, um but there's real concern for me as a council member as I look forward to the upcoming years and see that the savings if we continue in this trajectory will be um significantly um below our savings. And so you know, with revenue driving at 3.5% and our costs conservatively estimated um as levy increases over the next you know, the levy increase and the cost estimates I think are both conservative. So I guess we haven't had a presentation about the long-term forecast for the next 2 to 5 years, 3 to 5 years and I'm really focused on 2027. We all are, but I guess I'm raising the question when I I think that's an appropriate educational piece that we're missing in light of these discussions.
— Vice Chair Shafer [Timestamp]

Presentation on Mayor's Recommended 2027 Budget: Proposed FTE Reductions

Ordinances & Resolutions (5)

Mayor's recommended 2027 budgetOther

Document detailing proposed city spending and staffing changes for the 2027 fiscal year.

Mayor's proposed budgetOther

Initial version of the budget proposal released on August 12th, preceding the final recommended budget.

budget bookOther

Official publication containing detailed budget information for the city.

5-year planPlan

Long-term financial forecast outlining the property tax levy required to maintain current service levels.

high-risk licensePermit

A type of rental license that recently saw increased fees, with potential implications for regulatory department staffing.

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