Mantello filed the 2025 budget seven minutes before the legal deadline. Corrected materials arrived almost an hour after it. Council President Steele, along with Council Members Vera and Spain-McLaren, said the timing “falls far short of the level of transparency that taxpayers deserve.” The Republican majority passed the budget anyway, 4-3 along party lines.
The city had no permanent comptroller from July 2024 through the entire budget season, leaning on outside firms that had already cost more than $260,000.
Sources: Spectrum News, WAMC budget defense, WAMC Republican passage