Funding for the Police Department will increase under a budget amendment passed Tuesday by the Chattanooga City Council.
The budget amendment does not raise taxes and will not affect the city's overall fiscal year budget of about $350 million. The amendment reallocates funding among departments and draws down the city's contingency fund.
The Police Department proposed the extra funding this summer. The department will receive an additional $924,019, increasing its budget to $86,359,622.
Under the plan, the number of sworn positions will remain at 477. The amended budget increases the number of nonsworn personnel, bringing the total number of such staffers from 116 to 123.
Those additions include a development manager, a director of development and training and a director of public affairs, according to the amendment summary. The Police Department also will add four intelligence analysts, while three social workers from Community Health will transfer into "crisis co-response" positions with the Police Department.
Kirsten Yates, the communications director for the city, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in August that adding nonsworn positions to the department will enable officers to perform the duties they signed up for.
The budget passed with an 8-1 vote. Councilman Chip Henderson, of Lookout Valley, was the lone dissenter.
"My district is begging for more cars on the street -- not more command staff in the house," he said in a phone interview. "The chief and I have a fundamental difference of opinion about how that money should be spent."
Sewer repair
In the first round of voting, the council also unanimously supported a policy that would shift some sewer repair costs from homeowners to the city. City ordinances require two votes from the council before they're approved. The second reading of the proposal is scheduled for a council meeting on Oct. 11.
Fixing a broken sewer lateral pipe can cost a homeowner thousands of dollars. The proposal would make the city responsible for repairing or replacing the pipes under certain circumstances.
Center renamed
The council also unanimously approved a plan to rename the Brainerd Community Center Complex at 1010 N. Moore Road. It will be renamed the Chris L. Ramsey Sr. Community Center.
Tony Sammons, an administrator for the city, said in an interview that Ramsey was a well-known, longtime community leader and health advocate. He died in 2021.
"During the pandemic, he was really fighting for the underserved," Sammons said. "He was a catalyst in the community."
Contact Andrew Schwartz at aschwartz@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.