COLUMBUS, Ohio — Monday night, Columbus City Council passed the largest budget in the city’s history at $1.23 billion.

What You Need To Know

  • Columbus City Council passed the $1.23 billion budget, the largest budget in the city's history

  • Although the budget was the largest ever, it was still tight and council started with $1.5 million deficit 

  • Over $700 million of the budgert is going toward public safety

With an emphasis on public safety, housing and infrastructure, councilors say they’re following up their priorities with the funding needed to make them a reality.

“This budget, I think, is about priorities for us. But then also it is about setting the stage for a longer conversation about how do we get adequate funding for critical services in our community,” said Columbus City Council member Nicholas Bankston. 

Bankston is the chair of the finance and governance committee. Although this budget is the largest of its kind, he says the budget was still tight and the city actually started with a deficit. 

“A lot of juggling to make that happen, because not only did we have to find ways to pay for that, the councilmembers priorities that we saw as a community, but we also were starting with a deficit. We were starting with a negative balance of $1.5 million that we had defined as well. And so it took a lot of ingenuity and a lot of partnership in working with the administration and my colleagues to get it done,” said Bankston.

On that list of priorities for city council is public safety. More than $700 million would be geared toward public safety with the goal to add more officers and resources. Organizations like Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children are happy about most of the money going toward public safety, especially because of its current leadership. 

“We're definitely excited about that because working with the leadership Chief Bryant and first assistant chief Potts and even assistants, Chief Barker. We know that the internal changes that are happening in the department are really elevating how they work in communities,” said founder of Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children Malissa Thomas St. Clair.   

Months leading up to the final proposed budget, council held public hearings for community members to express their concerns. Bankston said people expressed the need for housing and human service agencies.