An overview of the proposed $798 million operating budget for the City of Akron was presented to City Council Monday by Mayor Shammas Malik during the Budget and Finance Committee meeting.
The budget is a decrease of 2% from last year — 71% of the general fund spending will go toward the city’s roughly 2,000 staff members. The budget includes a 2% cost-of-living increase that has not been finalized but was used to calculate wage increases.
The city is in negotiations with three of the four bargaining units representing city employees, so the final cost of wage increases will be figured in once the contracts are resolved.
Malik told council members this year’s budget focuses on his main priorities of: public safety (his highest priority); delivery of core city services; targeted investment in “innovative” programs around gun violence prevention, youth opportunity and education, among others; and fiscal responsibility.
“We will always invest in public safety as the top priority of this administration,” Malik said in a news release, “and we will continue to deliver our core city services, focusing on our personnel as the top asset of the city.
City Council must pass the operating budget by March 31.
Here are some of the highlights from the presentation, along with information contained in a news release from the mayor’s office.
‘Uncertainties’ the city may need to manage
Finance Director Steve Fricker and Deputy Finance Director Mike Wheeler covered the budget highlights, including:
- Uncertainty around whether $8 million in federal funding for HUD and Community Development Block Grant programs will continue. Fricker also mentioned the Emergency Solutions Grant, which is aimed at providing housing solutions for the homeless.
- The city is supposed to get a $1.25 million share of marijuana revenues from the state but has not received any money yet. Fricker said the state auditor’s office said a receivable would be “booked,” and more information about that money should be available soon.
- Union negotiations are under way with three of the city’s four unions, including Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge #7, the IAFF Local 330 that represents firefighters and EMS workers, and the Civil Service Personnel Association. The 2% raises they are budgeting for across the board reflect the cost-of-living raises in the AFSCME contract, but they don’t know what the raises will be for the other unions until negotiations are completed.
- The city does not know how much it will be required to spend on the construction of the Enhanced High-Rate Treatment Facility for the Akron Sewer Project — it is waiting to see if its appeal will be accepted. The cost of the project now is around $200 million.
Public safety spending priorities
The city is dealing with the end of federal safety grants that paid for 24 police positions and 50 firefighter positions. Those costs of about $7.5 million are now rolled into the general fund expenditures.
Other plans:
- Budgeting to maintain 488 uniformed police officer positions. Staffing is currently at 464 officers with a class of 28 police recruits going through the academy — a class of equal size will begin toward the end of the year.
- Budgeting to maintain 402 uniformed firefighter/medics — Akron Fire will graduate one class of cadets this year with approximately 28 new firefighter/medics.
- $1 million investment to replace cardiac monitors in EMS vehicles. These monitors have reached the end of their useful lives.
- Filling a role to manage Public Safety in partnership with Fire Chief Leon Henderson, Police Chief Brian Harding, and Assistant to the Mayor for Emergency Management Joseph Natko.
- The purchase and implementation of case management software that uses metrics to improve the effectiveness of the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board.
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Core city services
- The city’s aging fleet of trash trucks will be sold and 26 new trucks will be leased. That will save money on maintenance costs and increase reliability.
- The automated vehicle location (AVL) system in all public service vehicles will be upgraded to Samsara. This will enhance mapping capabilities, provide more accurate real-time data and improve the city’s internal and public-facing dashboards.
- Increasing staffing in the Plans and Permits Division by two to expedite the processing and issuance of all varieties of city permits.
Strategic initiatives
- $125,000 to pilot an expanded pre-K and child care initiative focused on workforce recruitment and training and professional development in partnership with other community stakeholders.
- Allocating $73,000 for a Hospital Linked Violence Intervention coordinator to provide crisis intervention, counseling, service connections and long-term case management related to gun violence, a proposed project with hospital systems for the last several years.
- Continuing to invest in Youth Success Summit with $125,000 (down from $500,000 in last year’s budget) to provide out-of-school time opportunities for Akron’s youth.
- Allocating $100,000 in new funding around sports and wellness programming — includes support for smaller non-profit organizations in the city.
Fiscal responsibilities, uncertainties around funding, possible shortfalls
Malik said the city is facing uncertainty around both the continued cost of the consent decree for the city’s sewer project and with federal and state funding. He traveled in the last few weeks, he said during the committee meeting, to both Columbus and Washington to make the case for continued and increased support from the federal and state governments.
The city is balancing a forecasted $13 million shortfall between revenues and expenditures — it will use $8 million in interest earned on ARPA funds, along with $5 million from income tax funds (raised via the passage of Issue 4 in 2017, which increased income tax .25% for police, fire, and roads. It’s sometimes referred to as the Safety and Streets Fund).
It will maintain a cash balance in the general fund of $29 million, or roughly 60 days of cash on hand.
The shortfall exists because of several issues, including:
The end of federal CARES Act and ARPA revenues that have supported more than $49 million in city budgets over the last five years. The city will spend about $25 million in ARPA funds that are already designed this year.
The city’s current 2.25% income tax rate has not kept pace with inflation, Malik told council members. The .25% of the city’s total income tax dedicated to the construction of the Akron Public Schools’ Community Learning Center projects means the city is at a lower tax rate than the 2.5% currently charged by all major cities in Ohio except Cincinnati, which is at 1.8%.
Malik said the city will also explore other revenue streams, including new public safety funding through the Ohio Mayor’s Alliance, funding for stadium improvements that would come from an increased tax on sports betting that is in Gov. DeWine’s proposed state budget, and restarting photo speed enforcement in school zones, which was suspended, Malik said, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Where and when to get more information about the city’s operating budget
A community town hall, including a Q&A, will be held Tuesday, March 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. at East Community Learning Center, 80 Brittain Road.
The city will also host a Facebook live town hall on Monday, March 17, at 4 p.m. for anyone who cannot attend the in-person event.
Council meetings this week will be livestreamed on council’s YouTube page.
Tuesday, March 4 – 3 p.m.
- Mayor’s Office
- Public Safety
- Police
- Fire
- Citizens’ Police Oversight Board
Wednesday, March 5 – 3 p.m.
- Legislative
- Municipal Court – Judges
- Municipal Court – Clerk
- Human Resources
- Labor Relations
- Neighborhood Services
- Law
- Finance
Thursday, March 6 – 3 p.m.
- Economic Development
- Planning
- Public Service
