City Council okays more road money, but most Lansing streets will remain pothole-ridden
Sarah Lehr
LANSING — City Council approved a $218.6 million budget for the the 2019 fiscal year that allocates more money for road upkeep and code enforcement.
Council also voted Monday night to slash by half the city's subsidy to the Lansing City Market.
The budget, a 4.9% increase over 2018, was approved unanimously by members of the Council. It includes $134.3 million for the general fund.
The city's fiscal year begins July 1.
'It's never enough': More road money
Most Lansing roads are in "poor" condition, according to a state rating system. Local officials say the state of Michigan is to blame for decades of insufficient funding.
The city says it would need $25 million in additional project funding just to maintain the roads in their existing state. Millions more would be needed to restore the roads to good or fair condition.
In other words, absent a major change to the state's road funding system, Lansing's roads will continue to get worse.
Council's adopted budget appropriates $400,000 more from the city's general fund for street repair. The city did not make such an allocation from the general fund during the last three budget cycles, said Mayor Andy Schor, who proposed this year's increase.
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The 2019 budget also will contribute about $300,000 from the general fund for sidewalk upkeep, which is nearly double the amount allocated last year.
"It's a significant move toward making roads a priority," At-Large Council Member Peter Spadafore said. "We need to spend a lot more, but I appreciate the mayor looking for solutions that fit with what we can do right now."
"It's never enough," Council President Carol Wood said of road spending.
Wood said she supported the $400,000 city increase as "what's possible," given state-imposed limitations.
"We need to live within our realities," Schor said. "We will continue to have that dialogue."
Related: Read the mayor's FY 2019 budget proposal
This year, the city is expected to get an additional $900,000 in state funding for local roads under an emergency measure approved by the Michigan Legislature.
Even so, it costs more than $1 million to totally reconstruct just one mile of road.
"I don't think $400,000 (from the city) is enough to make a discernible difference," said 4th Ward Council Member Brian Jackson, who nonetheless said he was encouraged by the "upward trend" in road funding.
City Market subsidy slashed
Council voted unanimously to cut the city's annual subsidy to the Lansing City Market from $80,000 to $40,000.
Lansing funds the market through the Lansing Entertainment & Public Facilities Authority.
The city once touted the market, located on the eastern bank of the Grand River, as an affordable place to buy fresh produce. But, farm vendors left the market in 2016, and it stopped accepting food assistance.
"The City Market isn't a market anymore," Schor said Monday.
LEPFA said earlier this month it would not renew the lease for the Waterfront Bar and Grill, the market's most popular tenant. Several city council members have objected to the use of city money to support a bar.
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Council Member Jody Washington, a First Ward representative, initially suggested eliminating the city's entire contribution to the City Market during the coming fiscal year.
Washington described the $40,000 allocation as a "good compromise." Schor also said he supports Council's amendment to the subsidy.
The halved allocation will allow the City Market to continue operating through the summer, its busiest season. After that, the market will be forced to close, leaving the property's future unclear, the mayor said.
At-Large Council Member Patricia Spitzley, a critic of the subsidy, suggests selling the market.
"We're looking into all options," Schor said. "We want the area to be active."
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More code enforcement officers
Council will reallocate the $40,000 cut from the market toward hiring another full-time code compliance officer, charged with enforcing city regulations, including those related to grass-cutting and building maintenance.
An additional $20,000 for the code officer will come from funding that had been budgeted for a vacant assistant fire chief position.
Related: Lansing, East Lansing will no longer share fire chief
Council's amendment will add one more full-time code position on top of the two new full-time positions already proposed by the mayor this budget cycle.
The change will allow the city to have a full-time code enforcement officer in each of the city's four wards, in addition to one code officer to focus on major commercial corridors, such as Michigan Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Council members anticipate that the new code officers will generate revenue from non-compliance fees. Council budgeted about $10,000 in revenue to partially offset the cost of hiring a commercial corridor code officer.
Another new position will be a full-time social worker in the police department. Lansing Police Chief Michael Yankowski requested the social worker position because police frequently interact with residents who have mental health challenges.
Legacy costs
More than one-fifth of the fiscal year 2019 budget will go toward legacy costs for the city's current and future retirees.
The budget sets aside $45 million for pension payments and $2.3 million for future retiree healthcare costs.
The city is grappling with more than $700 million in unfunded legacy costs expected to come due over the next several decades. Those payments will escalate over time.
The city's financial health team says the shortfall is fueled by several factors, including longer life expectancies and an underperforming stock market in the long term. The city also has slashed staff since the recession, which means there are fewer active employees to pay for retirees.
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Contact Sarah Lehr at (517) 377-1056 or slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr.