Wilmington City Council will vote on a 2016 budget with added spending on public safety later this week.
City Council’s Finance committee released the budget Monday with revisions to Williams’ proposed spending plan – adding over $600,000 to pay for some recommendations made by the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission.
Under Council’s plan $300,000 would go toward a new police academy to maintain police staffing. $210,000 would be spent on three new positions monitoring the city’s neighborhood camera system and an assessment of the system to ensure it is up to date and being used efficiently. Another $100,000 would fund an attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s “Wilmington Initiative,” focusing on the apprehension and conviction of known felons who commit other crimes or persons who commit a crime with a weapon.
“The crime commission’s recommendations are solid and should be implemented to reduce crime, improve police and community relations and set us on a new course for public safety,” said Gregory in a statement. “City Council has added money to support some of the commission’s work while we all wait for the Administration’s assessment of the report. We chose not to wait, and to act on what we could for the time being because the crime issue is a priority for our City.”
With the changes, the new budget plan would be $151.7 million dollars with a nearly $2.1 million surplus.
The mayor’s proposal in March was just over $151 million with $4 million dollars surplus.
The Williams’ administration responded to Council's plan in a statement from chief of staff Cleon Cauley.
"We have reviewed Council’s proposed amendments, which increase funding and resources dedicated to increase the safety of our citizens and the city. Public safety remains a top priority for the Williams Administration and we support efforts to increase the public safety within our communities," said Cauley in the statement. "We look forward to continuing our conversations with members of Council and their leadership.”
