Cincinnati Council is a step closer to allocating the $18 million dollar surplus from the city's last fiscal year.
The Budget and Finance Committee Monday approved the city manager's plan for using the funds.
There was some debate about the process. Council Member Amy Murray supports the manager's recommendations.
"But it's not like a Christmas fund," Murray said. "It's not giveaway money. So I think the administration has been very prudent in where they've allocated this money and that is the administration's job to give us recommendations."
Spending allocations for the surplus as proposed by the city manager and approved by the council committee:
TIP Repayment $4,000,000
One-time contingency fund $3,258,000
Labor mediation/Arbitration reserve $3,377,000
Port Authority $1,000,000
Inclusion contract $ 275,000
Retroactive pay (CODE/AFSCME) $ 685,000
Cradle Cincinnati $ 250,000
Performance & Analytics $ 400,000
Carryover for reserve $4,759,000
Total $18,004,000
Member Chris Seelbach said he supports parts of the plan. But he is not happy about the process.
"Not only was there not input from Council about how we think it should be spent or not spent before the recommendation was released," Seelbach said. "But there was no input to my knowledge from the citizens."
Voting in favor of the plan: Winburn, Flynn, Mann, Smitherman, Murray and Young. Members Sittenfeld, Simpson, and Seelbach abstained.
Nearly half of the surplus came from cuts city department made to budgets in the last fiscal year.
The full Council will vote on the spending plan Wednesday.
