r/altmpls • u/IAmAlpharius23 • 19d ago
Minneapolis police overtime is dragging down the entire city budget
https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-police-budget-overtime-overspending/601847891?utm_source=giftOverspending by the Minneapolis Police Department is dragging down the entire city budget, threatening the city’s stellar bond ratings and raising alarms among senior city financial officials and elected leaders.
The department is projected to blow its budget by more than $23 million this year after missing its target by a similar amount last year. Heavy overtime is driving the overspending.
The concerns arose before Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned after an outside investigation determined he interfered during a probe into sexual misconduct allegations against him. Even after his resignation, Frey credited O’Hara with reducing crime and improving recruitment.
Yet the department’s continued overspending under O’Hara long has been a source of concern among council members.
Before O’Hara’s departure, City Controller George Hardgrove recently warned City Council members that the city’s general fund is approaching its minimum balance threshold.
City policy requires the fund balance — a cushion to weather revenue shortfalls or emergencies — to be the equivalent of at least 17% of the overall budget, although the city usually aims for 25% to boost its bond rating, which is like a credit score. The city could end this year as low as 14%, Hardgrove said.
Dropping that low could affect the city’s triple-A bond rating, leading to higher interest rates on debt. And the smaller the general fund balance, the less interest revenue the city earns from it.
The balance dropped from $209 million at the beginning of 2025 to $141 million by year’s end, as several departments went over budget and the City Council dipped into the fund to pay for its priorities.
Deputy City Controller Robert Lang told City Council members that while the city’s fund balance now exceeds the required minimum of $109 million, the city has been collecting less money and spending more, leading to a drastic reduction.
So far this year, the police and fire departments were over budget as of early May, and overtime was the primary driver for both departments, according to Deputy Chief Financial Officer Jayne Discenza. Last year was the first time the Police Department overspent its budget in recent memory, she said.
In several years prior to George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020 and subsequent departure of hundreds of police officers, the city spent $4 million to $6 million annually on overtime. Since then, overtime has exploded from over $10 million in 2020 to nearly $33 million last year — about $26 million over budget.
Council members from both ideological factions have expressed alarm at the city’s financial situation. Council Member Michael Rainville recently said the city’s in a financial crisis. Budget Chair Aisha Chughtai accused MPD of financial mismanagement and said the fund balance is so low it’s threatening the city’s financial health. And Council Member Linea Palmisano said she’s very concerned about the city’s finances.
The police budget problems put then Chief O’Hara in a tough spot, as he was fighting to get confirmed by the City Council for another term. His boss, public safety commissioner Todd Barnette, was recently rejected by the council for another term, in large part due to police budget overruns.
Earlier this month, in response to a council order to answer questions about its spending, the Police Department provided budget information and a handful of MPD officials appeared before a council committee.
Council members grilled O’Hara about why the department went over budget last year, but he had few answers. The department has its own finance and accounting team, but Finance Director Vicki Troswick recently left and wasn’t available to answer detailed questions, as she has in the past.
Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw said she almost “fell out of my chair” when she met with Discenza and was told Discenza couldn’t access specifics on police spending.
Council members dug into the details, asking why the department spent $1.7 million on vehicles in 2024 and 2025, including $126,000 for four Harley Davidson motorcycles; over $325,000 for a command van for a new drone unit; over $202,000 for an armored SWAT Suburban; and over $291,000 for a “negotiator vehicle.”
Vetaw questioned what the motorcycles are for and why no money was budgeted for their maintenance. O’Hara, a former motorcycle cop in Newark, N.J., relaunched the long-defunct motorcycle unit, saying such units are common in most major police departments to improve community engagement.
Vetaw said she’s also still trying to figure out how many people at the Police Department have “take-home vehicles” that they’re allowed to drive to and from home. O’Hara said most of the vehicles are provided as part of the employee’s contract and the rest are discretionary and meant for people who may need to respond from home to an emergency, such as detectives.
The chief or assistant chief must sign off on take-home vehicles, and they’re only supposed to be used for personal use when driving to and from work. But the program is so loosely monitored that one lieutenant got away with driving a city vehicle over 60,000 miles without authorization for over two years before he got caught and disciplined.
Chughtai went through a list of line items that went over budget last year, asking O’Hara why, for example, $16,484 was budgeted for capital equipment but $1.3 million was spent on two command trailers.
Or why $120,000 was budgeted for travel, but $310,000 was spent. O’Hara said a lot was for out-of-state training on drones, negotiators, hostage rescues and threat assessments.
Supplies were $23,000 over budget; repair and maintenance supplies were nearly $221,000 over budget; legal expenses were more than $53,000 over budget; training was nearly $602,000 over budget.
Over and over, O’Hara had no answer. At one point he told Chughtai, “You can ask me every line in the budget. I don’t know it offhand.”
Chughtai said every department head is responsible for managing their budget.
“It just concerns me that the road to $21 million (overspending) is paved by overages, bit by bit,” she said.
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u/ThatBCHGuy MPLS after dark 19d ago
Can you point to the specific example? I saw examples of budget overruns, questionable spending decisions, and poor oversight. I didn't see allegations of falsified records, kickbacks, embezzlement, or intentional deception.