The Jackson City Council voted 5-1 Friday to adopt a $337 million budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, a plan city officials said is nearly 20% smaller than last year and includes a $113 million general fund for police, fire and public works, Mississippi Today reported.
City officials said the budget includes no tax increases and reflects hard choices to preserve core services. “We are scraping every couch cushion for every extra nickel for public safety,” Pieter Teeuwissen, the city’s chief administrative officer, said, Mississippi Today reported.
The council allocated roughly $33 million to the Jackson Police Department, about $25 million to the Jackson Fire Department and $19 million to public works. Mississippi Today reported that the remainder of the budget is tied to specific uses and cannot be repurposed by the council.
Ward 2 Council member Montyne “Tina” Clay cast the lone no vote, saying the plan shortchanges other initiatives and still falls short of meeting basic needs. “I know you budgeted $113 million, but in my eyes it’s zero because it’s not covering what we need to make us functional,” she said, Mississippi Today reported. Her suggestion to reduce the police budget and rely more on Capitol Police for downtown patrols drew no support.
The final hearings focused on a request from Fire Chief RaSean Thomas for $1.5 million to hire 25 firefighters after the department’s insurance rating was downgraded for low staffing. After consultations, Teeuwissen said he found $750,000 by eliminating a position and shifting accounts to allow 12 hires, Mississippi Today reported. Officials warned they could not tap reserves as in prior years because of incomplete audits; Chief Financial Officer Jillian Caldwell told the council the city had $29 million in unassigned reserves in 2023 and an auditor estimated about $7 million in 2024, Mississippi Today reported. The deadline to adopt the budget is Sept. 15, Mississippi Today said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
