Updates

There are two major issues making their way through the council: the annual budget process and changes to zoning ordinances to make it easier (or harder) to increase the availability of housing stock in the city. Expect to see a lot more on both topics in the coming weeks.

Budget Planning Hearings Held for Every Major City Department

• The city's operating budget is $665 million, a reduction of $31 million due to tax shortfalls from downtown real estate (via appealed assessments).
  • Despite a reduction in revenues, the budget is balanced.
  • Staffing accounts for almost 75%, totaling $498 million.
  • Debt service is 11%.
• City debt obligations are increasing in 2025 and 2026 but will drop by $36 million by 2027.
• The Law department is spending almost $6 million less, due to not having to pay out large settlements (see Leon Ford and Jim Rodgers).
• Underinvestment in city vehicles is creating significant maintenance costs, which will only get worse as underinvestment continues. This impact is most acute on our ambulance fleet, which has had multiple instances of vehicles breaking down on the way to a call or on with patients inside.

Public Hearing Requiring City Council Approval for New Community Housing

• Councilperson Kail-Smith introduced legislation updating the zoning ordinances to consider "community housing" as a conditional use when built in residential zones.
• By classifying community housing as a conditional use, final approval for new developments would lie with the City Council and not the zoning board.
• Community housing is defined as group housing for 8 or more residents with disabilities as well as people coming from "a period of hospitalization or institutionalized treatment for a medical, psychiatric, developmental, emotional, or other disability or handicap. This does not include halfway houses for people leaving a correctional facility."
• This legislation is in tension with the mayor's proposed fair housing amendment, which is focused on easing the process surrounding building new housing, with an emphasis on bridge housing for the unhoused. More details to come as this amendment makes its way through Council.

Smart Loading Zones Pilot to Be Extended with No End Date

• Smart loading zones are free for 15 minutes and enforced via camera (see below for rates).
• The goal is to promote turnover in what are designed to be temporary spots, reducing double parking and increasing traffic safety.
• Councilperson Gross expressed concern about the risks of revenue sharing with private entities, raising some of the risk factors in those public-private contracts.