Detroit’s super-sized $2.8 billion budget secured City Council approval but members also tasked the mayor with finding money to support more than 100 other unfunded priorities. 

The council’s “closing resolution” reflects the body’s next stage in negotiations with Mayor Mike Duggan around how to fund community needs while balancing the budget. City officials said the annual process of turning Duggan’s budget proposal into a ratified spending plan resembles the construction of a grand puzzle. The council’s resolution can be considered as the leftover pieces, but Budget Director Steven Watson said the city may yet find a place for them. 

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“This gives us an important up-front look at some of the things that council cares a lot about, it helps us prepare for those discussions,” Watson said. “If there’s things that just didn’t get funded … it either is something we’ll revisit during the fiscal year with council – if there’s an opportunity to fund it – or we know that in the next budget cycle it will probably continue to be a priority and something we’ll continue to talk about.” 

For now, the future is unclear for requests like a free bus ride program, permanent funds the Office of Eviction Defense, creation of new neighborhood parks, the expansion of the Motown Museum and branch library repairs, giving the council control over $20 million in unspent federal pandemic aid and creating a fund to rehabilitate blighted buildings instead of demolishing them.

The council’s list includes requests to study the possibility of a ferry service along the Detroit River, the condition of vacant schools buildings and how much revenue could be created from a new tax on downtown business and electric vehicle charging station fees. The council is urging Duggan to advocate for a change in state law to create an amusement tax while also cutting property taxes.

“We can have all the pie in the sky programs we want, but sometimes we just don’t have the funding to support that,” said Council Member Scott Benson. “Council needs to say ‘these are some of the things, as an oversight body, that I want to see in the city.’ Oftentimes, the administration does listen.” 

Duggan’s administration will consider funding council initiatives if surplus revenue becomes available, Watson said. The council’s resolution includes some early stage ideas that aren’t ready for implementation, he said, and other requests that can be achieved without additional spending. 

Surplus funding is typically identified through a year-end financial audit and twice-annual revenue estimating conferences. This year, the council approved a plan to spend $73 million in surplus revenue plus $57 million in surplus funding from the previous fiscal year. 

Detroit officials are optimistic about future revenues, predicting steady growth led by income taxes from new jobs and wagering taxes from the city’s casinos. Staff vacancies and investment earnings also create surplus revenue. The 2024-25 budget is Detroit’s 11th consecutive balanced budget since exiting bankruptcy in 2014. 

Benson said the budget has grown enormously since he first took office in 2014. At the time, General Fund revenues were declining. Revenue is up by nearly $500 million a decade later and is expected to keep climbing in the near future. 

“Now that we’ve got a bit more money, we can do more things,” Benson said. “The city is now leaning into its obligations toward assets.”

The use of American Rescue Plan Act funds remains an important bargaining chip between the council and Duggan’s administration. Detroit spent $259 million of its $827 million allocation thus far, while $805 million is planned for specific programs.

The administration is preparing to submit a proposal to spend a remaining $20 million on housing programs. Chief Financial Officer Jay Rising told the council in March that the administration will suggest shifting funds proposed to address digital access issues toward programs for downpayment assistance, affordable housing and the Detroit Housing Services office launched last year. 

The council requested that the $20 million be split evenly among each of the nine members so they can direct the funding toward community needs in their districts. 

“I just don’t think we have a lot of say-so in how these dollars have been encumbered,” Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway told Rising in March. “There has to be more flexibility, because we know what we need in our districts. You guys don’t.” 

Watson said only the mayor can suggest an amendment to the pandemic relief spending plan approved by the council in 2021. But it’s up to the council to vote yes or no on his proposal.

Tracking past funding requests 

Council members are keeping a close eye on what happened to their requests from previous years. The council’s Legislative Policy Division started a new tracking process this year.

Council Member Fred Durhal III, who chairs the budget and finance committee, said requests ”often get lost in translation” though many of them are implemented. 

“It’s good for transparency and the public to see that when we put things in closing resolutions it doesn’t fall on deaf ears,” Durhal said. 

A report on the 2022-23 fiscal year found requests for 66 out of 93 unfunded items were either implemented or in-progress. Another report on the 2023-24 fiscal year found 26 out of 93 council priorities were implemented so far.

A BridgeDetroit analysis of the 2024-25 closing resolution found 103 requests. Some of the items have already received commitments from the administration: 

• A one-time $10 million allocation to the General Retirement System and the Police and Fire Retirement System, plus $10 million to improve retirement benefits for active employees 
• A future $3.3 million allocation to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History for capital improvements. The council secured $3.4 million for the Wright in this year’s budget. 
• The Department of Transportation will study the feasibility of using smaller buses on West McNichols and Livernois routes 
• A $250,000 assessment of lighting needs in neighborhood alleys and commercial corridors 
• Detroit retirees will receive a local business discount program offered to city employees 
• The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation will continue a community education series on tax incentives and tax abatements

Benson said he’s hopeful that his request will come through to create 0% interest loans for cultural institutions like the Detroit Zoo and museums that are struggling to pay for capital repairs and cover operating expenses. 

Other issues may be more tricky.

Watson said the city probably can’t use General Fund money to pay off delinquent property taxes owed by businesses in the Avenue of Fashion as requested by Whitfield-Calloway. 

Other programs that stood up with pandemic relief funds are threatened by the expiration of federal aid in 2026. ARPA funds allowed the city to provide free legal assistance to renters, preventing thousands of evictions.

“A lot of the things we’ve been doing with ARPA funds aren’t necessarily things we can sustain in the city budget, or that we can even legally do with general fund dollars,” Watson said. “We might have to look toward philanthropy and say ‘we used ARPA funds to prove the model. Can you help sustain it?’” 

Kayleigh Lickliter contributed to this report.