Mayor Tim Kelly’s chief of staff and the chair of the Chattanooga City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee defended a budget proposal they say would help increase first responders’ pay, as council leadership and newer council members floated a cost-cutting effort for the city.
The Kelly administration brought the city a balanced $345.2 million proposal earlier this month. Council members, Kelly staffers and city residents discussed the span of what’s funded in the budget proposal in separate meetings Tuesday.
Kelly and his surrogates have repeatedly led the budget discussions by noting what their current proposal lacks: raises for police and firefighters. At the same time, they’ve said, the administration will return in the coming months with a budget amendment meant to fund those pay increases. The cost is projected around $18.5 million, according to Kevin Roig, Kelly’s chief of staff.
Members of the public said in a lengthy budget hearing Tuesday that they hope the city continues — and to some extent expands — funding for a range of priorities from public transit to the arts and affordable housing.
But some officials Tuesday suggested that the government could instead find ways of reducing some expenses. The City Council’s chair, Jenny Hill of North Chattanooga, and other council members suggested moving in a different direction with the budget process Tuesday.