In final budget, Mayor Fischer pitches more Louisville police officers, rainy day funding

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In his final budget proposal, Mayor Greg Fischer put forward Thursday a 2023 plan that boosts funding for Louisville Metro Police and officer recruiting classes, includes affordable housing investments and socks away $25 million.

The $1.3 billion budget "plants seeds for future progress," Fischer said Thursday afternoon during his final budget address to Metro Council.

The budget, which the 26-member Metro Council can decide to tweak before July, is an increase over the $1.1 billion in the current fiscal year.

It includes $715 million in general fund spending, a year-over-year bump of $57 million, as well as $343 million in capital spending, more than doubling the $167 million in the current fiscal year plan.

But Fischer, joined by Chief Financial Officer Monica Harmon and Budget Director Aaron Jackson during a media briefing, acknowledged about three-quarters of the general fund is for wages and personnel costs.

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"Inflation plays a significant role in this budget," Fischer, a Democrat, said, noting city workers received pay raises of at least 8% last year but some departments still have openings representing up to 25% of their full staffing levels.

The mayor, who is prevented by term limits from running for a fourth term in November, summed up his final proposal as "a healthy budget, the biggest budget we've ever had, with strong capital projects coming to improve the city."

Metro Council will hold over 37 hours of public meetings between May 9 and June 23 to hear from community members before voting on the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. View the budget hearing schedule here, and view the full budget online at louisvilleky.gov/government/management-budget/fy23-budget.

An online form for submitting budget comments through June 3 will also be available on the Metro Council website.

Here are some highlights of Fischer's final budget proposal.

Recruiting more LMPD officers

Fischer reiterated public safety is his top priority, following several years of record homicide totals.

LMPD would receive a budget of roughly $210.5 million under his proposal, a boost over the department's roughly $185 million budget in the current year.

Included is funding for three recruit classes as part of a plan to reach 1,200 officers by the end of fiscal year 2025, and $6 million is set aside for land acquisition and design of a new LMPD training facility, according to Fischer.

LMPD leaders have said the department has been short roughly 300 officers, with April data listing 1,028 sworn members.

While an officer shortage may continue into 2025, Fischer said about $4.5 million for the 911 deflection program in his budget should help reduce police responses in certain situations involving, for example, mental health issues better handled by social services providers.

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Fischer's budget also includes money to eventually move Jefferson County Sheriff's Office staff from the downtown Fiscal Court to a new home at the Youth Detention Center, with $3 million set aside for interior renovations.

$780,000 is also in the budget to demolish the LMPD headquarters at Seventh and Jefferson streets. Harmon noted Metro Council approved $20 million in December to purchase and renovate the AT&T building at 601 W. Chestnut St. to house LMPD and other city agencies.

Acknowledging the recent string of deaths and ongoing issues at the city's jail, Fischer's plan gives Metro Corrections a budget of roughly $57 million, a slight increase from the current budget of almost $55 million.

Metro Corrections also would receive $3.7 million in capital investments under the new budget, including an expansion of camera systems, monitoring equipment for observations of high-risk inmates and more body scanners at entrances.

"We can be pro-reform and pro-police," Fischer said in outlining his budget Thursday before a packed crowd in the Metro Council chambers.

The Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, under Fischer's budget, would get about $4.5 million "to continue restorative justice and youth violence prevention programs, as well as provide hospital- and community-based youth intervention," the proposal says.

Other public safety highlights include:

• $1.4 million for a Louisville Fire Department burn building used to train firefighters and funding for a recruit class to start in May 2023.

• Investments in the Clean Collaborative initiative and $880,000 for Community Ambassadors, who work in downtown, south and west Louisville, Waterfront Park and Bardstown Road to keep areas clean and answer questions from residents or visitors

• Continued funding to anti-violence and prevention programs such as Group Violence Intervention, with money also set aside to complete police reform recommendations from the Hillard Heintze consultant review and support programs such as the Police Activities League and Truth and Transformation.

• Nearly $11.5 million to complete a $28.9 million computer-aided dispatch and records management system, and $1.25 million for a new Mobile Emergency Operations Center.

Increasing homeownership and affordable housing

Homelessness and affordable housing have remained key issues in the city recently, especially with this week's opening of The Hope Village, a new "safe outdoor space."

Fischer said his budget includes $10 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, bringing the total investment during his term to $106 million.

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The budget also includes $3 million in down-payment assistance to help increase homeownership among low- to moderate-income households and $3.4 million to repair and maintain homeownership in low-income areas.

This investment would follow the roughly $100 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding that Metro Council members approved last year for affordable housing and homelessness programs.

Expanded community center hours and Evolve502 grant

Fischer said his budget has $412,000 to expand hours and programming at community centers.

Fischer also noted this week's introduction of a Metro Council ordinance that would spend $8.5 million in ARP funds over three years on a "data-driven youth development system" to help 10- to 24-year-old residents.

A $3 million matching grant is included for Evolve502, which ensures that every Jefferson County Public Schools student can receive a free, two-year college degree or workforce training.

The budget also invests $1 million in the SummerWorks program that gives youth summer jobs, with Fischer noting the program has placed over 36,000 kids in jobs with 240 employers during his 12-year term.

Fischer is pitching $4 million for Waterfront Park, with a matching requirement, to help complete the $30 million westward expansion between Ninth and 15th streets.

Other community and youth-focused highlights include:

• $500,000 for the Code Louisville initiative and $600,000 to KentuckianaWorks for the College Access Center, a one-stop place that helps residents apply for financial aid, search for schools, explore occupations, complete admissions applications and more.

• $5 million for the Louisville Zoo's planned Kentucky Trails exhibit, to be matched by $5 million in private donations in addition to a $10 million state budget allocation. The project includes adding trails to 20 undeveloped acres at the zoo.

• $1.3 million to launch Louisville HeARTS, an initiative with the Fund for the Arts, Louisville Orchestra, Metro Government and other community groups to "bring the healing power of the arts to every neighborhood in the city."

• $200,000 to complete the parking lot at a new Louisville Metro Animal Services complex on Newburg Road.

• $22 million to pave roads and repair sidewalks.

• $500,000 for scooter and bike lanes.

Fischer also proposed restoring funding for Metro Council's Neighborhood Development Fund and office accounts, bringing them to $75,000 and $30,000 respectively.

Public health support

Fischer's budget includes $24.7 million for the Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, a $3.9 million increase for an agency that took on a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget also has $600,000 to plant trees and other environmental resiliency efforts, $700,000 for a new Energy Innovation Fund and $6 million for the U of L Envirome Institute Healthy Building Research Complex and Parkscape, a downtown site that Fischer said "brings innovation, nature, resilience and people together in a new downtown research center and tourist attraction."

Rainy day fund additions, infrastructure project possibilities

Harmon said Louisville has received about $636 million in federal funding doled out to cities during the pandemic, and Fischer said those operating funds may dry up two to three years from now, which is why additional rainy day funding is helpful.

The most recent federal funding announcement came Tuesday, when Fischer and several Metro Council members pitched spending over $87 million in the fourth round of the city's ARP allocation on things like libraries, youth development, parks and pools.

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So his budget includes $10 million for the city's contingency fund and $15 million to cover future budget shortfalls.

Fischer's budget also recommends $1.5 million for additional resources to prepare anticipated projects made possible by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as well as $30 million for projects that may require a match from the city.

He concluded his final budget speech on a bright note.

"And I truly believe Louisville, from corner to corner, neighborhood to neighborhood...has become one of the most vibrant, one of the most entrepreneurial and one of the most compassionate cities in America," Fischer said. "I see it every day — in old and young, in you and my team, in businesses and schools. And this budget keeps that going."

How did Metro Council members react?

Metro Council members said after Fischer's remarks they did not have time to immediately review the budget, as the administration released the complete document online during the Thursday afternoon speech.

But reacting to the general overview of the proposal, Metro Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9th, who chairs the Budget Committee, said "it is a lot nicer to be dealing with this budget" than the 2019 budget that featured millions in cuts to services.

Metro Councilman Kevin Kramer, R-11th, the Budget Committee's vice chair, and other members echoed Hollander's sentiment, saying they generally agreed with putting away some money in the rainy day fund.

But Metro Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19th, said "even in good times," Metro Government must not get reckless and must also make sure infrastructure spending benefits the "entire city." Metro Councilman Scott Reed, R-16th, urged caution with the new spending to "not create added bureaucracy."

Metro Councilman Brent Ackerson, D-26th, said he and his colleagues in 2016 "made a promise to the people of Louisville to bring all roads in our city to an 'above average' rating within a decade."

But the mayor's proposal only includes 67% of the funds "needed to keep our commitment to better roads in this city," Ackerson said, calling it "a shame."

And on the proposal to boost LMPD's staffing to 1,200 officers by 2025, Metro Council President David James, D-6th, reiterated the department is currently 300 officers short and called for the city to have a fully staffed police force.

This story has been updated.

Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer budget: 2022-23 plan is $1.3 billion