CLEVELAND — On Monday evening, Cleveland City Council gave its approval to Mayor Justin Bibb's $1.8 billion proposed budget for 2022.
“I appreciate City Council’s faith in my administration to deliver our long-term vision to make Cleveland a national model for city management, police reform and neighborhood revitalization,” said Bibb in a statement after the passing of the budget. “I will lead this administration with urgency, transparency and equity, always making decisions with our residents at the center.”
The $1.8 billion budget includes a $704 million general fund for daily operations and services. In order to get the budget balanced for this year, the Bibb Administration rolled over more than $60 million of $132 million in money carried over from 2021. Both the federal CARES Act and American Rescue Act Funding helped the city end the year with the balance.
According to a release from the council, budget hearings began on February 22 as members reviewed the mammoth 550-page document and received input from every city department and division.“Council had an energetic discussion about the budget over two weeks,” said Council President Blaine Griffin in a statement. “Members brought institutional knowledge and careful examination of the budget to the discussion and advocated for important changes.”
Council made several additions to Bibb's budget:
- Added new positions in the Department of Health, Landmarks Commission, and the Board of Building Standards.
- Added $200,000 to Vision Zero, a traffic safety program council initiated.
- Increased funding for the Right to Counsel program council initiated from $300,000 to $500,000. The program assigns free legal assistance to families with children who are facing evictions.
- Increased funding for the Cleveland Muni Football League from $80,000 to $160,000.
- Added back to the budget the Age Friendly Home Investment Program that provides $150,000 per ward for senior home repair. Council initially added this new program to help seniors in 2018, but it wasn’t included in the mayor’s 2022 budget.
- Added back to the budget $150,000 for each of the 17 council members to assist in funding neighborhood projects including park or playground improvements, street repairs and other infrastructure. Council first added this in 2018, but it wasn’t included in the mayor’s 2022 budget.
- Raised annual salaries of council members’ executive assistants to not exceed $55,000 from the current $48,000.
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