Public Safety Top Priority in Proposed Charlotte FY18 Budget

CHARLOTTE, NC – Public safety is the top priority in a budget proposal presented to Charlotte City Council Monday night.

The $2.4 Billion budget plan adds police officers and affordable housing but does not raise property taxes.

It calls for a $22 Million increase in public safety costs, adding 62 sworn CMPD officers, 25 civilian CMPD positions, and 18 firefighters.

“This budget makes true the two year commitment to add 125 police officers,” City Manager Marcus Jones told City Council.

Jones says he used Council’s letter to the community after the Keith Scott shooting as a framework.

“That was the primary lens that we used in developing the budget this year,” explains Assistant City Manager Kim Eagle.

One promise council made was to create more affordable housing.

The budget calls for a $6 Million increase in spending for affordable housing over the next five years: $2 Million in 2018, then $1 Million each year from 2019 through 2022.

Council member Patsy Kinsey says the spending reflects the needs she’s heard from people in the community.

“They’re the ones we will be focusing on. And we have focused on them since October and that’s what we will continue to do,” Kinsey says.

There is no property tax increase in the proposed budget. But some fees would go up again.

You’ll pay $6.00 more in solid waste fees each year. Last year they went up $8.00.

And more than $20.00 will be added to your water bill. Last year it increased more than $30.00.

Kinsey says overall she’s pleased with what she sees.

“We’ve placed the citizen’s money where it needs to be, where we think that’s what they want,” she says.