The Rochester City Council unanimously adopted Mayor Lovely A. Warren’s fiscal year 2018-19 operating budget today after approving a joint amendment that invests in additional community policing efforts by the Rochester Police Department.
The amendment, supported by Mayor Warren and City Council, transfers $291,100 to reinstate three Community Policing Officers in the RPD’s new Bureau of Community Affairs and increase the size of the upcoming recruit class to 28.
“I applaud City Council for conducting their due diligence during a difficult budget year,” said Mayor Warren. “This budget gives us the resources we need to maintain and enhance important services, and I am grateful to Council for supporting that effort. City Council is a key partner in our efforts to create more jobs, safer and more vibrant neighborhoods and better educational opportunities.”
“On behalf of City Council, I want to thank Mayor Warren and her Administration for working with us in a spirit of cooperation to produce a budget that meets the needs of all our citizens,” said City Council President Loretta C. Scott. “During budget deliberations, members of the community made it very clear that they value the work of the Crime Prevention Officers. Working together, the Administration and Council developed a solution that allows those officers to continue the important work of community policing.”
The $539,646,900 spending plan continues to focus on the Mayor’s three priorities of more jobs; safer, more vibrant neighborhoods; and better schools and educational opportunities.
For instance:
• There is continued support for anti-poverty initiatives through Kiva (crowd-funded micro loans for entrepreneurs), emerging worker-owned cooperatives, RMAPI and new initiatives of the Offices of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives and Community Wealth Building that focus on access to credit for small businesses.
• The fight to strengthen neighborhoods includes money for the demolition of vacant and abandoned structures and for assistance programs that help homeowners maintain their properties, such as Roofing and Emergency Assistance Repair.
• The budget also provides for the completion of the Campbell R-Center improvements, including new play apparatus and a spray park. It increases capital support for the Library, including the North Terrace Project and funds Quality of Life teams in Neighborhood Service Centers focused on commercial corridor improvement.
The total “Typical Homeowner Burden” (taxes and fees combined) increases a modest $43.37 or 1.85 percent under the budget, which is below the New York State Property Tax Cap.
