There was a request from councilmembers to move money around within the budget. Councilman Vernon Hartley, Ward 5, asked for about $2.5 million to be moved within the General Fund budget for Public Works to have equipment to address city maintenance for streets, neighborhoods and blight control. He was able to get $1.5 million.

“I wanted it all. But in the spirit of working together and incremental steps, we’re working with this administration until we can develop the Public Works into an effective machine that it needs to be to take care of all the communities,” said Hartley.

Councilman Brian Grizzell, Ward 4, said they will wait a few weeks as the administration makes the approved changes to the budget.

“They’re going to summarize, and they’re going to bring it back to us. But for the most part, everything is done. This was a pretty tedious process,” he said.

According to Grizzell, once all the changes are finalized, the budget will go into effect on October 1, 2025.