City Budget Approved, Other Meeting Highlights

Mar 21, 2022

Cleveland (March 21, 2022) – City Council held its regular Monday meeting tonight, both in person in Council Chambers and through live streaming. The next council meeting is March 28th.

Here are highlights:

City Budget Approved: City Council tonight approved the city’s proposed $1.8 billion annual budget which includes a $704 million General Fund for daily operations and services.

“Council had an energetic discussion about the budget over two weeks,” said Council President Blaine A. Griffin. “Members brought institutional knowledge and careful examination of the budget to the discussion and advocated for important changes.”

Council began back-to-back budget hearings February 22nd, pouring over every detail of the 550-page document and hearing from every city department and division.

To balance the 2022 budget, Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration requires rolling over more than $60 million of $132 million in money carried over from 2021. Both the federal CARES Act and American Rescue Act Funding helped the city end the year with the balance.  

While voting to approve the budget, council members voiced serious concerns over the administration not providing a structurally balanced budget – where revenues equal expenses. They also highlighted the negative forces facing Cleveland: the rising oil and gas prices from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which in turn will likely increase the costs of goods and services; the questions about how much income tax the city may have to reimburse people who worked from home last year rather than at their Cleveland offices; and the union wage and benefit negotiations that are set to start soon with the 30 unions that represent different city employees. These likely increases were not incorporated into the budget.

Council President Griffin said he planned to hold regular Finance Committee meetings with the city’s Budget Director to receive updates on spending, income tax rebate amounts and hiring to ensure the city’s financial stability in these uncertain times.

Council made some important changes to the budget, including adding new positions – two in the Department of Health, one in the Landmarks Commission and one in the Board of Building Standards.

Council also:

• Added $200,000 to Vision Zero, a traffic safety program council initiated.
• Increased funding for the Right to Counsel program council initiated from $300,000 to $500,000. The program assigns free legal assistance to families with children who are facing evictions.
• Increased funding for the Cleveland Muni Football League from $80,000 to $160,000.
• Added back to the budget the Age Friendly Home Investment Program that provides $150,000 per ward for senior home repair. Council initially added this new program to help seniors in 2018, but it wasn’t included in the mayor’s 2022 budget.
• Added back to the budget $150,000 for each of the 17 council members to assist in funding neighborhood projects including park or playground improvements, street repairs and other infrastructure. Council first added this in 2018, but it wasn’t included in the mayor’s 2022 budget.
• Raised annual salaries of council members’ executive assistants to not exceed $55,000 from the current $48,000.

Council’s additions add approximately $5.8 million to the budget. By law, Council must approve a budget by April 1st.

Clinic Opening Concierge Lounge at Hopkins Airport: Council approved legislation allowing the Cleveland Clinic a three-year lease to rent space at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for the purpose of constructing and operating a concierge lounge for arriving and departing patients of the Clinic.

Patients, upon arrivals or departures, will be met in the lounge (or at the gate if needed) by a greeter and connected to ground transportation, lodging, highlights of the City of Cleveland and more. The 480-square-feet space will be on Concourse B. The Clinic will pay $216.84 per square foot.

The project focuses on Clinic patients, but it will be open to others at Hopkins. (Ord. No.214-2022)

West Side Market Changes: Council approved legislation that would cap rental rate increases, expanding lease options and allowing sales of alcohol but amended the legislation requiring a quarterly update on efforts at the Municipal Services & Properties Committee. While about 32 percent of all available stalls are currently vacant, just 11 percent of the market hall. The majority (50%) are in the produce arcade.

 (Ord. No. 223-2022)

The legislation:

• Hold rents at their 2020 levels for 2022 and caps annual rent increases to no more than a 3 percent increase in future years.
• Allows vendors to enter leases for up to three years with one, three-year option to renew. Currently, the city does not allow leases for longer than one year at a time.
• Permit short-term leases, which would allow the West Side Market to consider daily pop-up events and seasonal vendors.
• Charges prepared food vendors the same rate as traditional vendors (butcher, meat, vegetable).
• Repeals a 1924 city ordinance that prohibits the sales of alcohol at the West Side Market.

Entrepreneur in Residence focused on Minority Business Development: Council approved a nominal ($1) lease for a year for the city hall-based “Huntington Entrepreneur in Residence” who will focus on minority business development. on the southeast side of Cleveland. Huntington Bank is helping to fund the program and 11 nonprofit organizations in Cuyahoga, Lorain, and Ashtabula counties – each chosen for their expertise in supporting small business growth – will provide coaching and skills-training to help small businesses start and or grow their businesses while expanding their abilities to succeed.

The “Resident,” designated by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, will work to bring initiatives such as the neighborhood retail assistance program and the storefront development program to Lee/Harvard, Mount Pleasant, and Union Miles neighborhoods of Cleveland. The legislation allows the program to lease space in City Hall, but council members expressed hopes that the resident would be stationed or spend a majority of their time in the neighborhood rather than at City Hall as well as expand their attention to other city neighborhoods. (Ord. No. 137-2022)

Introductions:

Center for Economic Recovery: Legislation was introduced to establish a new office to provide strategic recommendations to the mayor on how to spend American Rescue Act Funding the city has received. The Center will be led by the city’s Chief Strategy Officer and shall consist of non-city personnel, including an executive officer and other non-city staff. Cleveland received nearly  $512 million from the U.S. Treasury’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). (More than $186 million has been to shore up the city’s budget, for safety force expenditures or set aside for other projects including establishing a city-wide broadband network. Nearly one-third of Cleveland residents don’t have home internet.)

The private personnel will not be compensated by the city. Any expenditures over $10,000 must be approved by City Council. (Ord. No. 288-2022)

Council Opposes New State Gun Law: A resolution sponsored by Councilman Charles Slife strongly opposing a newly adopted state law that allows Ohioans 21 years and older to carry concealed handguns without a license and safety training was introduced.

The law, passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Governor Mike DeWine, goes into effect in June. Current Ohio law requires a license to carry a concealed handgun across Ohio and includes eight hours of necessary safety and firing training, which will now be optional.

Council’s resolution notes that “while Cleveland works to reduce the number of guns that lead to violent crime, the State of Ohio’s deregulation of handguns will increase gun ownership and proliferation of unregulated guns in our community.”

The gun bill was passed and signed over objections from law enforcement groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio. (Res. No. 291-2022)