Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has laid out his plans for hiring workers and expanding services using the millions of dollars raised by the income tax increase approved by voters last November.
The mayor’s 2017 budget proposes more than $40 million in new spending on city departments. It adds 65 police patrol positions as well as about a dozen higher-ups. Jackson also wants to hire additional building and housing inspectors.
Council members challenged the mayor to bring on more police detectives and to better enforce housing codes.
Jackson said many issues in the city, such as lead poisoning or neighborhood violence, are so great they could have used the entire budget increase.
“I could have devoted it to that and that alone. That’s the magnitude of the problems that we face, not just in Cleveland but in urban centers throughout America.”
Council has budget hearings scheduled all this week. The final version is expected to be voted on near the end of March.
