Cleveland City Council Completes Budget Reconciliation; Set to Send Budget to Full Council for Second Reading

Mar 04, 2024

Cleveland, OH (March 4, 2024) – Cleveland City Council’s Finance, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, chaired by Council President Blaine A. Griffin, unanimously approved the proposed 2024 budget after making amendments that will assist in providing safety and services Clevelanders need and deserve. 

Council made the following changes both prior to and during the budget reconciliation process to support Clevelanders: 

• Creating a Neighborhood Equity Fund to improve infrastructure, maintenance, and local services for each of the City’s seventeen wards 
• Providing $250,000 for Legal Aid’s work to protect Cleveland families from evictions  
• Supporting general maintenance at recreation centers with eleven new full-time positions 
• Increasing security cameras and infrastructure at recreation centers 
• Adding $75,000 for contracted maintenance at recreation centers 
• Implementing ten full-time positions for street cleanup and maintenance 
• Adding two full-time Law Department employees to support the new “Residents First” ordinance 
• Adding $100,000 to support Auxiliary Police  
• Supplementing Economic Development with six additional staff to support local business needs 
• Allocating $1 million in funding for the tree-damaged sidewalk program 
• Requiring legislative approval for hirings made from the newly created “vacancy pool” 

The budget will go through its second reading at the March 4, 7:00 pm Council meeting at Cleveland City Hall in Council Chambers. The budget cannot be changed after the second reading. The meeting will be open to the public and can also be livestreamed atwww.youtube.com/@ClevelandCityCouncil.   

Council President Blaine A. Griffin stated, “This Council takes its fiscal oversight and appropriation responsibilities seriously. We recognize Clevelanders expect us to represent their interests with this budget – and we have devoted the past two weeks to ensuring their needs are met. Passing a budget is no easy task as we see what is going on with the federal budget in Washington, D.C. We take pride in being ahead of schedule and delivering for Clevelanders with this budget.”  

The City Charter mandates that the budget be submitted to the State before April 1. Failure to approve a budget before April 1 would allow the State to create a budget for the City of Cleveland. The budget must be heard three times before it is approved and presented to the State. The third hearing will be scheduled for the March 18 City Council meeting. After that meeting, the budget will be approved and submitted to the State.

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