Detroit council approves budget after Schedule B tweaks; administration preserves $20 million fleet reserve

Detroit City Council approved its budget for the term after a brief but substantive discussion about Schedule B allocations and where surplus funds would be taken from.

Council member Corley told colleagues the council proposal would subtract about $3,500,000 from the blight remediation fund (fund 1,003) while the administration had proposed $6,000,000. Corley said the council intended to shift roughly $5,000,000 from a capital projects pot (described in the packet as fund $45.33), compared with the administrations approach of taking about $2,600,000 from that fund. He added that the administration wanted to keep a $20,000,000 fleet allocation intact to support purchases of emergency vehicles for fire and police.

"So we're fine with that," Corley said of the differing approaches, "it's just changing the way that they're taking the money away, you know, from the different pots." Corley emphasized the council's changes did not reduce the total resources available to fund council priorities.

Budget director Johnson told the council the fiscal effect on the General Services Department would be "relatively minimal," noting that GSD has unspent capital from prior allocations and that philanthropic and state grants often offset reductions in city capital. "It just may slow it down a little bit," Johnson said of parks improvements, but he added the administration was pursuing grant opportunities that would help maintain investment in recreation centers.

Director Todd, representing the administration's budget team, reminded the council that Schedule A reflected administration adjustments made to comply with the administrative cap required by HUD and said the city typically amends Schedule A later in the year when federal entitlement is received. "We have yet to receive the entitlement from the federal government," Todd said, and he warned that the council should expect a likely amendment to Schedule A when entitlement comes in.

Several consent and resolution items were moved and approved without objection during the meeting; council members also agreed to attach waivers to the night's approvals to satisfy procedural requirements. Member McCampbell moved for approval of resolution items 2.1 through 2.4 and for items 3.1 and 3.2; the motions passed after the chair called for objections and none were raised.

The council and administration agreed to circulate the Schedule B worksheet to members who did not yet have a copy and to provide the General Services Department with a list of district parks whose timing for improvements council members had questioned. The council president closed by thanking council and administration staff for their work on the budget and said the body would return to outstanding items as needed.

The administration will proceed with the adopted Schedule B allocations as adjusted by the council; Director Todd said Schedule A may be amended later in the year when HUD entitlement arrives.