Chattanooga's city council has unanimously approved a $230 million operations budget for 2017.
The budget, which does not call for a tax increase, was subject to weekly public workshops in the days since it was presented by Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke.
Berke allocates more than 44 percent of the total - $102 million - to public safety, spending $63.5 million on police and $38.8 million on the fire department.
Berke hopes to buy new tools to combat the rising tide of gang violence, which the city has failed to curb despite Berke's high-profile Violence Reduction Initiative. Among them, a $700,000 intelligence center that will use cameras to record illegal activity.
The budget also calls for a $500,000 boost to the city's Youth and Family Development department, bringing its budget to $9.5 million. It also pays for a $6 million expansion of the Avondale recreational center.
Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.