Chattanooga Mayor Andy BerkeFrom the looks of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke’s proposed 2014 budget, Chattanoogans should be getting more bang for their bucks in the coming year.
Without raising property taxes, the city will add 40 new police officers to bring the police force to a record high of 486 and give a citywide pay raise of 1.5 percent to city workers.
With some creative thinking – and budgeting – the city’s $212 million operating budget also will fund a full-time federal prosecutor to put away bad guys.
There’s also a plan to buy the 35-acre vacant Harriet Tubman housing development from the Chattanooga Housing Authority property and turn it into an industrial park to bring more jobs to East Chattanooga – an area long impoverished.
Mayor Berke found $7 million to apply to his priorities, including beefing up the police force to provide better public safety, a pledge he made in his campaign.