KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The Kalamazoo City Commission has unanimously approved its Fiscal Year 2021 budget as of Monday night.
During a virtual meeting, Commissioners discussed the matter at length with multiple city workers. This follows multiple discussions of the budget in previous meetings, as well as a public hearing that was held earlier this month.
In total, the city passed a budget of $213,892,050, with $68.3 million allocated for the General Fund. For the General Fund, this represents an overall increase of 1.03% when compared to the Adopted 2020 Budget, according to city officials.
The overall city budget represents an increase of 5.29% from the 2020 Adopted Budget total of $203.1 million, according to officials.
During that public hearing earlier this month, the budget had received criticism from some callers. They had expressed concerns that the allotment for the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) was nearly half the proposed budget, and that the money should be used elsewhere.
However, during that same hearing, both Mayor David Anderson and Commissioner Jack Urban clarified that number is only where the General Fund is concerned, not for the overall budget. Anderson said that the city budget allotment for KDPS is only 15 percent.
“Our budget is approximately 214 million, about 15 percent of that is public safety, not fifty percent,” Anderson said after the hearing closed.
Additionally, some callers had said that the money should be used for purposes of addressing issues such as homelessness and sustainability.
During the Monday night meeting, Commissioner Urban asked about what has been done to reflect changes in KDPS over the last year, as well as what role it serves in the community.
To answer these questions, KDPS Chief Vernon Coakley entered the meeting. Coakley said that he is listening to the concerns of callers and citizens, and that communication is one area that he is striving to improve on.
“We need to get out and tell our community what we’re doing, who we are, what they’re missing, because sometimes some things are missing about the great things that their public safety department is doing, and leading as servant leaders in their community,” Coakley said.
Coakley also said police training is being enhanced, and will continue to be enhanced in the areas of social justice, diversity, implicit bias and deescalation.
In terms of new hires, Coakley said that he is working with hiring diverse and local recruits.
“I’m soliciting information and ideas to re-imagine ways to enhance our recruiting and hiring base better than the national best practices,” Coakley said. “More importantly, what does our community want? I’m looking to listen to what our community wants and what they want to see in public safety officers here in Kalamazoo.”
Coakley added that the hiring for new officers has shifted back to the Kalamazoo Valley Police Academy.
He also said that when hiring new officers, Coakley has new recruits sit it on meetings of the Citizens Public Safety Review and Appeals Board. This is done so officers can learn about what the hiring practices look like.
“We’re going to continue to get out from the word go, once this COVID pandemic is over, to continue our outreach programs,” Coakley said. “We’re looking for better ways and enhanced ways for community outreach.”
He cited several programs that he and Assistant Chief Victor Green had outlined during a discussion of the budget in December, including social services, Group Violence Intervention (GVI) and the Youth Bureau.
“I’m excited to be able to move the community in a way, in a direction, that is going to be unparalleled,” Coakley said. “We’re ready to go and excited to use the men and women of public safety to move forward and make Kalamazoo a better place.”
In regards to the budget allotment, Commissioner Jeanne Hess asked Coakley to clarify why the department receives the amount of funding that it does. Coakley says this is due to other services provided by the department besides police work.
“We are cops, we are police officers, but more importantly what I like to drill down to is that we are your Public Safety Department, servant leaders in your community,” Coakley said. “We’re your first responders, we are police officers, we’re your fire suppression team, and we’re also medical first responders. Many times, you see police cars chasing fire trucks, or fire trucks chasing police cars, and EMS. We deliver all three of those services. Much of our programming or our budget is included, and much of it is in personnel, operating costs, capital projects, buildings and things of that nature. That’s where a majority of our budget is under expenditures.”
He added that he wanted the community to understand that the department is more than just police officers.
“We are servant leaders, and I want that word to be known,” Coakley said. “We are, and will, be the servant leaders that you expect in your community as public safety.”
After further discussion, the Commissioners voted to approve the budget unanimously. The city charter states that the budget must be approved before the end of January.
However, Mayor David Anderson noted that the budget can still be amended later on, if the Commission feels that there is a reason to do so.
“I look forward to this being a year of change and hope for us in the city, and this budget is what helps drive that,” Anderson said.
Further viewing –
- Residents can view the virtual city meeting on YouTube at this link.
- Residents can view the proposed 2021 budget on the City of Kalamazoo website at this link.
- A breakdown of the budget expenditures can be viewed through city documents at this link.
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