"We'll have to be frugal," Mayor Duggan proposed Detroit budget will be tight

DETROIT (FOX 2) - It's Mayor Duggan's fifth budget proposal and first not under state control.

The sentiment? It's a balanced budget, but it's going to be tight.

"Things are okay now, but we'll have to be frugal to make sure they stay okay," said the mayor at his budget meeting today.

With a proposed $2.4 billion budget across all funds and a 5 percent cushion in reserves in case of an economic downturn, Duggan has asked all departments to look at cost-saving measures to help fund new initiatives elsewhere. 

Some of those plans were found in the mayor's announcement that more resources are heading their way to some public servents.

"We're in a position today, to recommend 70 more positions for the Detroit Police Department," he said.

Duggan is recommending adding 30 detectives and support staff at the DPD as well as 50 more positions at DDot and 30 more buses which would ammount to 500 more trips a week.

And that's not the only good news on the way for city employees. All non-uniformed city employees will receive a 2 percent raise, while all police and firefighters will get a 3 percent raise. He also addressed progress regarding the demoltions the city is undertaking.

"As you know, in 2016, the feds appropriately suspended the funding for 60 days until we restructured it. The restructuring worked," Duggan said. "For the last three years, we've had state officials looking at every contract and every payment."

The resulting oversight has led to an acquiescence of $275 million in federal money, which has led to the city being ahead of schedule in the demoltion process.

"Last year, the city probably handled 10 demos a week on the city's side," Duggan said. "That will have to go up to 70 or 80."

The city council will review the proposed budget and vote at a later date.