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Council Releases Its Municipal Budget Amendments

Columbus City Council is putting more money into recruiting a more diverse class of firefighters. Council is adding 700 thousand dollars to Mayor Michael Coleman's budget proposal for the class. It is among 10.6 million dollars worth of budget amendments Council announced on Thursday. A vote is scheduled February 10th. Most of the money is coming from a one-time 5.7 million dollar state refund of workers’ compensation premiums. Council president Andy Ginther says the panel will put that money into the city's Neighborhood Services Fund.

The remaining 4.9 million dollars worth of amendments come from money not spent last year, called carryover money. The amendments include 500 thousand dollars for pending education initiatives, including the hiring of a cabinet level education director who would also serve on the Columbus School Board. Other amendments fund programs to help the poor, for-profit businesses, reduce the local infant mortality rate, and help keep kids from committing crimes. The amendments mean the proposed city budget for this year is now 807 million dollars.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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