CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council on Monday unanimously approved Mayor Justin M. Bibb's 2023 budget, complete with $1.9 billion in spending and $710 million for the general fund.
In his initial proposal last month, the mayor had sought to pass a "structurally balanced" budget after covering potential losses last year with federal COVID-19 relief funds. The original reading would've led to a surplus of roughly $225,000.
Lawmakers then approved more than $200,000 in additional spending, which would have created a deficit. However, Bibb's office was able to make up for it by cutting some contractual spending as well as adding left over money from earlier projects.
"We emphasized last year that Council members expected a structurally balanced budget," Council President Blaine A. Griffin said back on March 6.
Notably, council agreed to Bibb's proposal to eliminate more than 140 vacant positions in the Cleveland Division of Police, down overall from 1,640 in 2022 to 1,498 in 2023. The department currently employs just 1,292, and while the mayor's office hopes to hire 206 more by the end of the year, legislators are skeptical, as there are currently only 11 people enrolled for the Cleveland Police Academy's newest class.
Overall, more than 200 unfilled city positions have been eliminated, something the council hopes to revisit with Bibb in a few months. The mayor's office noted current police officers will be getting a 7% pay raise as part of a new collective bargaining agreement, but Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Jeff Follmer still blasted the decision to cut possible jobs.
"You can't predict what's going to happen in a year," Follmer told 3News in February. "We might not get there for a while, but its something we've got to keep trying because this city is one of the top dangerous cities in the United States. We owe it to the residents."
The budget could not be passed until it was read three times on the council floor, something that happened at Monday's weekly meeting. The final deadline for an agreement was April 1, and Bibb is expected to sign it by then.
Also on Monday, councilmembers passed legislation to move forward on a new $90 million police department headquarters, purchasing the historic ArtCraft building along Superior Avenue and entering into a contract with TurnDev to renovate the facility. They also approved a resolution from Councilwoman Jenny Spencer calling on the U.S. Congress to pass the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2023, proposed by Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and JD Vance following the East Palestine train derailment.