Mpls. City Council approves $3.3B biennial budget
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minneapolis City Council on Tuesday adopted the 2023-2024 budget proposed by Mayor Jacob Frey.
This is Frey's first biennial budget, and it totals $3.37 billion over the next two years.
Frey highlighted five priority areas in his budget: affordable housing, city capacity and performance, climate and public health, economic inclusion and community safety.
The budget includes funding for 731 sworn police officers in 2023 and four new recruit classes in each of the next two years. It also includes $8.6 million for police overtime and $1.5 million for "contracting with other law enforcement entities."
It also adds nearly $4.4 million in investment to "provide unarmed, mental health professionals as responders in behavioral health crisis situations."
The budget would bring the city back to pre-pandemic staffing levels, Frey's office said, but adding 50 full-time employees by 2024.
More than $8 million is allocated to improving roads, trails and 311 response (minor cleanup jobs such as concrete repair and litter pickup).
Frey's budget puts about $35 million in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund over the next two years, and invests another $3 million into the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
On the public health front, there is $600,000 to treat opioid addiction and $300,000 for access to abortion care in the city. Half a million will go to "help businesses reduce environmental pollution through solar energy and weatherization projects," Frey's office said. Another $700,000 will add more electric vehicle charging stations to the city.
Two areas of the city will receive investments for economic development -- 38th Street, which would benefit from one-time funding of a "multi-tenant small business and event center," and West Broadway, which would receive $1 million in investment for a "business incubator."
The budget includes a tax levy increase of 6.5% in 2023 and 6.2% the year after.
To read the full budget, click here.