KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Wednesday morning, a group of council members in Kansas City, Missouri, recommended slight changes to the $1.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 first proposed in February. The full City Council will vote on whether to adopt the budget Thursday afternoon.
Much of Wednesday’s debate focused on how to fund the police department, which receives the largest cut of the city's budget.
Council members ultimately decided to advance Mayor Quinton Lucas' proposal to Thursday's final vote. His proposal would require the police department to tell city council members ahead of time how the department plans to use the $33 million the city has pledged the department above the roughly $235 million the state mandates.
Other changes recommended Wednesday included adding more money to a new program called “Rebuild KC.” The city will now use money from the American Rescue Plan to place $15 million in the program instead of the $10 million originally proposed.
Rebuild KC will provide grants to requests for ways to improve neighborhoods through infrastructure, job growth, housing initiatives and more.
Another change Wednesday suggested keeping the Office of Environmental Quality under the city manager’s jurisdiction and not move it under the Neighborhoods and Community Services Department as was first proposed in February.
Another suggestion adds money to the Parks and Recreation Department in order for it to open all city-owned swimming pools this summer.
The city’s Public Improvements Advisory Council will get an additional $1.2 million to spend on citizen-initiated infrastructure concerns.
As a whole, the budget is mostly similar to what the mayor and city manager submitted earlier in the year.
The proposed budget funds the newly created Housing and Community Development Department, adds $12.5 million to the Housing Trust Fund, places $40 million from federal funds in the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, calls for repairing 300 miles of streets, funds the purchase of new snow plows and hire new street sweepers, spends an extra $600,000 on litter control and gives city employees pay raises.
The City Council meets at 3 p.m. Thursday at City Hall to vote on the budget. The city’s new fiscal year begins May 1.
