The proposed 2023 budget for the City of Kalamazoo is now available for public review. The proposal is presented in an interactive format on the City of Kalamazoo website at www.kalamazoocity.org/budgets and selecting the City Budgets tab drop down.
The Kalamazoo City Commission will provide an overview presentation of the proposed budget at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, during the Committee of the Whole meeting in the City Commission Chambers. A formal work session on the budget will take place on Monday, Dec. 12, also in the Chambers (time to be determined). The Committee of the Whole meeting, and the December 12 work session, will be streamed live on the City’s Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/KalamazooCity ) and YouTube channel ( https://www.kalamazoocity.org/youtube ).
The overall City of Kalamazoo budget is $299.9 million, the largest proposed budget to date, and represents an increase of 22.2% from the 2022 Adopted Budget total expenditures ($245.4 million). The increase is related to continued increases in the City’s capital plans and increased programming of the City’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant allocation.
“The 2023 proposed budget keeps the City of Kalamazoo on the path to meeting its vision and values,” said City Manager Jim Ritsema. “This is a budget that is fiscally sound, improves services and sets us in motion to further enhance our city as a great place to live, work, raise a family, or start a business.”
The overall budget was developed utilizing the framework of 10 goal areas of Imagine Kalamazoo 2025. The City Commission identified specific goal areas to increase focus for the 2023 budget including:
- Youth – Places and programming to help young people succeed.
- Housing – Improving affordable housing, addressing homelessness, and assisting with arrearages and repairs.
- Infrastructure – Motorized and non-motorized transportation systems, utilities, and water and wastewater.
- Safety – Preventing crime and violence, including gun violence and other safety measures.
- Economic Impact – Promoting economic health, economic and business development, and addressing job joss.
Highlights of the proposed 2023 budget include infrastructure projects such as stormwater catch basin and pipe lining, street lighting in the West Michigan Avenue and Fraternity Village area, and continued replacement of lead pipes in the northern areas of the city. Efforts to enhance housing programs would receive a boost in the Housing Development Fund. Youth projects through the Kalamazoo Department of Parks and Recreation would receive more allocations for programming such as the Police Athletic Activities League and an increase in the Youth Initiatives Fund. And public safety initiatives would include retention bonuses for KDPS officers as well as the funding for a new downtown substation.
This is the seventh City of Kalamazoo budget to benefit from funding from the Foundation for Excellence (FFE), which through 2022 has invested nearly $150 million. Since 2017, the FFE has provided funding to reduce property taxes citywide while investing millions of dollars each year to help fund aspirational projects and supplement the City’s general fund.
The City Commission is expected to schedule a public hearing on the 2023 budget at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, at the City Commission Business Meeting in the City Commission Chambers. City Charter requires that a budget be approved by January 31 each year.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up