Minneapolis City Council Approves Hodges' 2016 Budget

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- More than half of Minneapolis homeowners will see a decrease in the city portion of their property taxes next year, according to a budget adopted by the city council on Wednesday.

That comes as a result of $750,000 in cuts proposed by Mayor Betsy Hodges.

The 2016 budget, which Hodges put together and was unanimously approved by the city council, calls for $13 million in affordable housing as part of a proposal to focus on housing as a healthy start for kids. It includes money to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and $1 million to create affordable housing options for large families.

The budget also calls for more than $300,000 for accelerated training in implicit bias, procedural justice and crisis intervention training for Minneapolis police officers. There will be $1 million provided for officers to wear body camera technology.

Hodges' budget includes $10 million for the city's portion of the 10th Avenue bridge rehabilitation. The budget also aims to increase the sworn complement of officers to 862 while funding a recruit class and ongoing community service officer classes.

The budget also calls for $330,000 for a jobs program for men 18 to 24 years old of color to do mentoring work for boys of color.