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Lansing Mayor Andy Schor is proposing hiring new firefighters and detention officers in the city’s upcoming budget.
Schor’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2027 was distributed to City Council members Monday evening before a more detailed presentation next week.
The city’s General Fund budget is $182 million, a 5% increase from the budget adopted for the current fiscal year and a 3.2% increase from the amended budget.
“The moral of the story is we’re going to continue to maintain the services and positions that we currently have without any cuts, and that’s always a good thing, and we will remain solvent with a strong budget,” Schor said.
His budget would provide funds to hire three firefighters, an increase of one per shift.
He would also allocate funds to hire three new detention officers, which he said would allow five existing officers to move from the jail to patrolling the streets.
Funds would also be allocated to hire two agents to staff the city’s 311 call center, two solid waste operators for improved trash and recycling collection services and two code compliance officers.
The budget would also include $1.5 million to repair, replace and install new sidewalks, $800,000 to operate modular housing units for the city’s homeless population and $100,000 to purchase permanent speed control humps.
Schor also prepared a supplemental budget proposal in case City Council members approve a 24-megawatt data center development that would bring in another $1 million of annual revenue for the city.
He would recommend spending $400,000 on the Lansing Fire Department to purchase specialized gear for electrical hazard mitigation, chemical spill response and confined space rescue and to train firefighters on electrical hazard response and high-angle rescue certifications.
Another $400,000 would go to housing programs, including home rehabilitation projects and to backfill losses from new construction activity granted payments in lieu of taxes.
The remaining funds would be split between the city’s façade improvement grant program and neighborhood grant program, with each getting an increase of $100,000.
“I don’t know if it’s going to pass or not, but if it does, we wanted to be ready with a proposal on how to spend those dollars, and we thought the Fire Department, housing, façade grants and neighborhood grants would check some boxes,” Schor said.
City Council members will hold a special Committee of the Whole meeting March 30 to dive into Schor’s budget proposal. A public hearing on the budget will be held May 4.