After weeks of debate, Minneapolis City Council approves $2B budget

The Minneapolis City Council approved Mayor Jacob Frey s billion budget Tuesday adding nearly amendments to the plan while pulling back on proposals to cut staffing in Frey s office Supported by a increase in property taxes a bump of about for the median Minneapolis single family homeowner there were no major cuts including to the Minneapolis Police Department But there were plenty of arguments about how exactly funds were being shifted City Council President Elliott Payne representing Ward called it the hardest budget season that I think I ve been in shortly after the all-but-unanimous approval Outgoing Ward Council member Jeremiah Ellison was absent from the vote The amendment votes alone stretched across multiple meetings from Friday morning to late Tuesday Numerous met with unanimous approval like a increase in funding for legal services for immigrants Several others including certain involving law enforcement drew closer votes Of note was a million earmark for MPD funding to aid a non-fatal shooting task force to improve the city s clearance rates Supporters cited the success that a similar effort has seen in Saint Paul in the two years since it was implemented It passed - - One early amendment from Ward Council member Robin Wonsley decreased the budget for the planned Masses Safety Training and Wellness Center by million instead sending those funds to the city s Protected Bikeways Scheme traffic safety improvements and ramp replacement to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act Related Minnesota s budget is headed for an imbalance but who or what s to blame We questioned economists to weigh in Wonsley explained Frey s administration had committed to the million training center without council approval through the Minnesota Department of Human Rights settlement agreement She called that effort an attempt to work around our budget authority as council members A city response to the amendment stated that the settlement agreement required extensive training requirements that current facilities couldn t meet And Minneapolis City Attorney Kristyn Anderson cited grave concerns that Effective Law Enforcement for All the independent evaluator for the city s police department would accept an altered plan Such hand-wringing did not move Ward Council member Aurin Chowdhury That is for ELEFA to determine that s why they re an independent body she announced That is not for the City of Minneapolis to determine Another Wonsley amendment commits to promotion the advance of a new grocery store in a food-insecure area including the possibility of a city-owned store Council member LaTrisha Vetaw Ward citing her ward s North Territory as an already existing store that could use financial assistance to stay in business questioned the amendment s scope Wonsley acknowledged the concerns but held firm I m hearing folks would love to explore how to help existing grocery chains or options Wonsley announced That is not what this amendment does It eventually passed - - Wonsley also successfully restored to the city s sidewalk plowing pilots over the protests of council members like Linea Palmisano Ward who declared she feared the reallocated funds and staff would slow things like pretreatment for winter storms and response to emergencies The council approved the amendment - - Minneapolis City Council budgeting process mean-spirited political One of the majority of contentious parts of the budget process had been a number of moves that would have resulted in deep cuts to Frey s staff a move he called mean-spiritied and blatantly political in a Star Tribune op-ed By the time the amendments were approved the majority of those cuts had been transferred to vacant positions One final detail that s sure to be an ongoing point of discussion was the Minneapolis Police Department s million overrun of their budget something that led numerous councilors to ask pointed questions of Police Chief Brian O Hara Back pay settlement agreements and a high number of new hires were among the reasons cited by O Hara for the overspending but Council members seemed shocked that the department had been caught off guard by the issue With the budget approved Frey has until Dec to sign it and make it official or veto and send it back to the council The post After weeks of debate Minneapolis City Council approves B budget appeared first on MinnPost