It’s infrastructure time at City Hall, and Mayor Shammas Malik’s administration is hard at work convincing Akron City Council to pass a $360.8 million capital budget ahead of a Feb. 15 deadline.
“I’m really excited about some of the things we’ve included in this year’s budget,” Malik said on Monday.
The capital budget funds major improvements to the city’s infrastructure and facilities as opposed to the operating budget, which funds personnel and facilitates day-to-day and more incidental operating costs. The money in the capital budget comes from state (55%), federal (18%), local (25%), regional (1%), and private (1%) sources.
Malik highlighted some key components of his 2024 capital budget proposal in a letter to City Council.
A majority of the proposed $360.8 million budget, 57%, is dedicated to water and sewer infrastructure improvements.
“Water and sewer is an enormous part of the capital budget every year, both as a result of the consent decree but also because of the significant investments into the water system,” Malik said Friday in a meeting with the media. The city is under a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that requires it to massively, and expensively, overhaul the sewer system that regularly flooded the Cuyahoga River with untreated sewage and wastewater.
“The Northside Interceptor Tunnel Project is continuing with some major milestones in 2024,” Malik wrote to council. “The city will complete excavations necessary for the structures for the construction including the beginning and ending shafts for the tunnel boring machine. The machine is currently being built and is expected to arrive in the fall to begin work in 2025.”
The city will also use money in the budget to finish installing new smart water meters in Akron households.
In other parts of the capital budget, Malik is proposing $500,000 to address automobile speeding: “The funding will cover piloting speed tables, electronic signage, and other interventions to curb speeding.”
Akron’s roads and sidewalks will get a little TLC
The city also plans to fix some Akron roads.
“In 2024, Akron will be resurfacing a total of 70 centerline miles of pavement including 50 carryover miles from the 2023 resurfacing program,” Malik said. “By focusing primarily on the carryover work, we will be able to get the program caught up and start 2025 fresh with a full program completed on an efficient, annual basis.”
And good news for the Akronites who have submitted requests to fix their sidewalks: Malik is proposing $1 million “to the city’s sidewalk program to help get us caught up on the backlog of requests. This allocation is the highest for this program in over 10 years.”
Malik highlighted several key public safety proposals, including $1 million to buy 25 new cruisers for the Akron Police Department and $950,000 for a new fire engine truck.
Malik also wants to outfit the SWAT and Street Narcotics Uniform Detail (SNUD) with body cameras for the first time, at a cost of $375,000 for the year. The mayor also wants to dedicate $220,000 for a better gym for the APD at the Stubbs Justice Center.
The budget also funds improvements for community centers and parks.
“We are committed to existing plans to renovate and rebuild our community centers,” Malik wrote. “In 2024, design and construction will begin on Reservoir Park Community Center and design of the renovated pool at Reservoir Park, as well as continued construction at Patterson Park Community Center. In addition, we’ve added a $300,000 line item in the capital budget for emergency repairs or improvements for our community centers, on an as-needed basis.”
The budget also dedicates $300,000 to Akron Parks for the Akron Parks Challenge, along with plans to build a “splash pad” at Elizabeth Park “to continue adding water recreation across the city for Akron’s youth.”
In the Akron City Council Chambers Monday, members of the mayor’s administration pitched council members on the parts of the budget detailing transportation, public facilities, housing, economic development, and miscellaneous costs. They’ll detail parks and recreation Jan. 29, along with the expensive water and sewer upgrades.
Per the Akron charter, the capital budget must be passed before Feb. 15. The Malik administration is hoping that Akron City Council will formally approve and pass it at the Feb. 12 meeting.
