KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo city commissioners got their first chance to comment on the proposed budget for next year, with this year’s process in hyperdrive.
Normally the budget doesn’t get issued until early December and isn’t approved until mid-January.
City Manager Malcolm Hankins not only released his proposal a month early, but began getting public reaction to the plans well before that.
“We had a community budget work session, we also did a survey and got some valuable input from our residents, so I would like to thank the community for participating in our budget process.”
He says residents identified public safety and housing as their priorities.
Commissioner Alonzo Wilson says one of the questions he got from the public is why is 49% of the general fund budget going to public safety, and not more going to the homeless.
City finance director Steve Ascenzi says Kalamazoo is on the low end of the scale when it comes to police and fire costs.
“A look at comparable cities, typically 55 to 60% of a general fund budget is allocated to public safety so our current model does provide a general cost savings by comparison.”
That’s because their staff are cross trained to be police, fire and medical first responders.
Public Safety Chief David Boysen says they are short staffed. They respond to about 400 calls a day, and they will be increasing efforts to support their health and retain staff.
“They see a lot of stressful things throughout their shift, and deal with a lot of people on their worst days and see a lot of tragedy and bad things, so officer wellness is certainly important, and we’re looking to beef up some officer wellness strategies going into 2027.”
Commissioner Chris Praedel says he thinks the early start is a good idea, rather than waiting until January when the weather is bad to hold budget hearings.
“Which I have always thought was a bit absurd, so I really am grateful we’re moving this into a process where we’re not one-twelfth a year into a new year, to get this approved.”
Hankins says the public’s next opportunity to weigh in on the budget will be at a public hearing scheduled for next Monday evening.
“There again presents another opportunity for the public to weigh in on it, and December 7th is the anticipated date that we’ll bring it back for a vote.”
He says they can also leave suggestions, comments and recommendations anytime they want online.
His proposed budget doesn’t call for any tax increases, but there will be another hike in water and wastewater fees.
That will be revealed at next week’s meeting.
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