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Sept. 24, 2007 (MINNEAPOLIS) -- Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak today unveiled his plans for a city budget that once again significantly increases funding for a wide range of public safety initiatives. Mayor Rybak’s proposal calls for $200.1 million in public safety programs for the next year, funds the largest police force in more than five years and addresses the root causes of crime with funding to prevent youth violence and build economic opportunity.

“This is a common sense budget that puts public safety first, focuses on basic city services and invests in jobs, housing and other strategies that create ladders of opportunity,” Mayor Rybak said. “With this budget we are showing that Minneapolis is a city that works, not only during an emergency, but every day of the year.”

Facing difficult budget choices due to the loss of $35 million in state aid this year and growing pension obligations, Mayor Rybak said that fiscal responsibility has allowed Minneapolis to invest in key priorities amidst tough fiscal challenges.

“We have reduced our debt each year and if the budget I deliver today is accepted without change, we will have eliminated $86.5 million of debt since 2002, which means we have $7.6 million more to spend this year on basic services like public safety,” Rybak said.

Bolstered by Results, Rybak Calls for a Continued Focus on Public Safety

Although violent crime is falling, down 14 percent city-wide and trending downward in every police precinct, Mayor Rybak said that crime is still too high and that continued vigilance is needed to make Minneapolis safe.

“We are making progress,” Mayor Rybak said. “But we have a long way to go, as the recent murder of bicyclist Mark Loesch and the shooting this weekend of Vernice Hall demonstrates. That’s why in this budget, as I have for the last three years, I am again proposing significant investments in public safety – far more than any other part of the city government.”

Calling crime a “complex problem that requires a complex set of comprehensive solutions,” Mayor Rybak’s plan starts with more police and tough enforcement, protects livability, remains dedicated to crime prevention, and demands accountability and consistent results.

“Our most powerful tool to fight crime is more police officers on the street,” Rybak said. “We’ve been aggressively hiring more than 100 diverse officers for two years and we are going to continue. With this 2008 budget we will be adding funding for 18 more sworn officers and the civilian support that they need to be more effective. With these new officers, we will have 880 budgeted sworn officers, more than we have had any year since 2002.”

The police department has grown significantly in the past few years, from $98 million in 2003 to $112 million in 2007. Today Mayor Rybak proposed another significant increase with a total police department budget of $121.2 million. The police department has grown - and in 2008 will continue to grow - faster than any other city department.

While Rybak’s crime-fighting plan begins with more police, he said that making Minneapolis safe is about more than just police on the street. In his comprehensive plan, Rybak also proposed:

$300,000 to fund four more 911 operators
$800,000 to fund precinct-based community prosecutors
$75,000 to expand restorative justice programs
$150,000 for community micro grants to prevent gang-related graffiti
$100,000 for a juvenile curfew and truancy resource center in City Hall
$100,000 to implement recommendations of the City’s Youth Violence Prevention Committee
$675,000 for the Youth Coordinating Board, including $150,000 to fund the “Youth Are Here” youth activity circulator bus year-round

Growing an Economy That Works for Everyone

Mayor Rybak also promoted Minneapolis’ strong, growing economy and pledged more than $11 million in workforce development and economic development strategies in 2008, including:

$1.5 million for job training and placement programs that successfully placed 14,000 hard to employ city residents into unsubsidized private sector jobs last year
$4.7 million dollars of small business financing tools, including innovative loans with no interest to business owners whose religious beliefs restrict them from receiving traditional interest-based financing
$2.1 million for the Great Streets Neighborhood Business District program that focuses economic development on key commercial corridors like West Broadway and Franklin Avenues
$16 million to improve housing options and strengthen Minneapolis housing market, including $6 million to continue implementing the City’s strategy to address the foreclosure crisis

“Minneapolis is growing again,” Mayor Rybak said. “More people are living here, more are relocating here, more are investing here, and more are working here than a generation ago. In fact last year was the first year in at least 25 years in which Minneapolis had two back-to-back years of sustained growth in three key indicators: more new jobs, more new housing and more new population. This is a tremendous accomplishment.”

Investing in City Infrastructure for the Common Good

In the face of reduced state funding and mounting pension obligations, Mayor Rybak said that Minneapolis’ investments into public safety came at the direct expense of other basic services. Almost no other area of the city has felt this pain more than basic city infrastructure. While city general fund spending over the last five years for police will grow 30 percent, spending for public works grows only 10 percent over the same time period.

“We are nowhere near where we need to be in terms of investment in basic city infrastructure,” Rybak said. “Our city, our state and our nation have not invested as we must in roads, bridges and transit – and our lack of investment has serious consequences. We absolutely need the partnership of the state and federal governments if we are to invest as we need in infrastructure.”

Mayor Rybak recommended City Bridge Repair and Rehabilitation be more than doubled in 2008 and increased over five years from $950,000 to $1,450,000. This increase was planned before the 35W Bridge collapse, as part of Minneapolis’ bridge repair and rehab program and will increase the number of bridges receiving deck renovation and preservation. Over the past five years, Minneapolis invested more than $17.3 million into its bridge capital program.

To view this news release online, visit www.mayorrybak.us.

City of Minneapolis

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