LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's proposed a $1.3 billion budget includes funding for priority areas like public safety, affordable housing and capital investments. 

This is Fischer's 12th and final budget proposal as he finishes his last four-year term in office since he was first elected in 2011. It's also the city's largest budget ever — last year's budget was $1.1 billion.

Fischer said the increase is due to more money coming in from the federal and state governments, and he's hoping it will plant seeds for the city's future as he embarks on his last eight months in office. 

The proposed budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year has a heavy emphasis on public safety, funding for affordable housing, and an outline of how to spend federal relief money from the American Rescue Plan. 

Fischer called it "a healthy budget, the biggest budget that we've ever had, with strong capital projects coming to improve the city."

One big improvement, Fischer said, is a "comprehensive approach toward public safety. It's not just law enforcement — it's the non-law enforcement aspects of intervention, prevention, community center programs, education."

The proposed budget also accounts for the minimum 8% wage increase for all city employees, which will increase the Louisville Metro Police Department's budget.

"Government is a service business," Fischer said. "So we increased everybody's wages a minimum 8% last year just to stay with the market."

Also included in the proposed budget: funds for three new LMPD recruiting classes, $6 million for a new training facility, and investing in police reform recommendations from Hillard Heintz's top-to-bottom review of the department. The goal is to increase the department's workforce to 1,100 in the next year and up to 1,200 by 2025. It also includes more money toward violence intervention programs and initiatives to rebuild trust between police and community members.

Additionally, the budget includes $1.4 million for a fire department burn building and funding for more recruits.

After months of deaths and tragedy at Louisville Metro Corrections, the mayor's budget provides $3.7 million to the Department of Corrections for additional cameras and monitoring equipment, as well as more body scanners at entrances. Another $1.25 million would go to a new mobile emergency operations center. Fischer said $11.5 million would go towards completing a $28.9 million state-of-the-art dispatch and records management system.

With kids in mind, there's another $412,000 in the budget to expand hours and programming at community centers. Fischer also wants to see an additional $3 million matching grant for Evolve502, ensuring Jefferson County Public Schools students in sixth grade and up can go to college tuition-free. Another $1 million would go towards the mayor's SummerWorks program.

The Mayor's budget also includes advancing capital projects from previous budgets. Among several, Waterfront Park would receive $4 million from the city with a match requirement from private fundraising for the park's $50 million project to expand into west Louisville. The city's funding would add to the $10 million allocated to Waterfront Park from the state's budget. Lastly, $200,000 would complete work at Louisville Metro Animal Services' new complex on Newburg Road.

There's also a proposal from the mayor to spend $5 million towards the Louisville Zoo's Kentucky Trails exhibit and $1.3 million to launch Louisville HeARTS, which Fischer called "a unique initiative with the Fund for the Arts and Louisville Orchestra to bring the healing power of the arts to every corner of the city." 

When it comes to public safety, the budget includes $24.7 million for Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness, which Fischer said is a $3.9 million increase from funding in the past. 

Another $600,000 would be invested in planting new trees and other environmental efforts, including $700,000 for a new Energy Innovation Fund and $6 million for the University of Louisville's Envirome Institute Healthy Building Research Complex and Parkscape in downtown Louisville. 

Another $22 million is recommended for spending on roads and $500,000 on bike-scooter trails and investing in the Clean Collaborative initiative. An additional $880,000 would go towards the city's Community Ambassadors, who work in different areas of the city to answer resident and visitor questions and keep areas clean. 

The mayor's budget recommends $1.5 million for the city's anticipated projects and setting aside $30 million for projects that could require a match from the city. 

The budget also calls for $10 million to be put towards affordable housing, with $3 million in down payment assistance to "help increase homeownership among low to moderate households" and $3.4 million to repair and maintain homeownership in low-income areas of the city, according to a news release.

While the city's economic outlook is better than when Fischer took office following the recession, he is proposing putting $10 million in a rainy day fund and $15 million to address future budget shortfalls, a total of $25 million, a move supported by members of both parties. 

The city has received $636 million dollars in federal relief funding, which helped add funds to the budget, but the mayor is asking for that $25 million to be set aside for when that money runs out.

"We're planning ahead for the eventual elimination and removal of those funds, but it will require some decisions by the next mayor and the next council to deal with," Fischer said. 

The budget was presented to Metro Council Thursday evening. Councilmembers will now look through the detailed proposal.

"I wish we could tell you some details, what we think about certain parts of the budget, but what is said before, we have not seen it yet. It was released while we were in the meting," Council President David James, D-6, said.

Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19, cautioned fiscal responsibility and said he wants the Council to make sure there's oversight in making sure the money is spent properly.

"Even in good times, we need to reinforce the budget rigor that we did when times were tough," Piagentini said.

Councilman Bill Hollander, 9, says there will be 30 or so hearings before the budget is finalized. The first hearing will be May 9 at 3:00.

There will be two public hearing sessions, one on May 18 at 6:00 p.m. and one on June 2 at 6:00 p.m. If you would like to sign up, there's a link on the Metro Council page.

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