Emergency budget passes after the public leaves.

The City Council approved a $940 million emergency spending package at 1:17 Tuesday morning, hours after the last scheduled public speaker and minutes after staff delivered a 312-page substitute bill to members' desks.

The package combines bridge repairs, school security, waterfront remediation and a communications contract described only as public reassurance. The largest amendment shifts $188 million into a capital reserve that can be released by the budget office without another council vote.

Council leaders said the compressed timetable was necessary because markets open in the morning. Fiscal monitors noted that the city's bond desk had already priced the offering before the hearing began.

Deputy Mayor Bryce Dawkins sent a written statement supporting the bill's accountability measures. His office would not identify those measures by deadline, citing the importance of allowing the text to speak for itself once the text had been formatted.

Six members recorded objections to the process. Five voted yes. The sixth was absent when the roll was called after leaving to locate an open cafeteria.

The mayor is expected to sign the package this afternoon. City Hall will publish the final language after attorneys determine which version the council adopted.