Columbus plans to spend $914.2 million in 2019, with the majority of funds in the largest budget in city history going toward public safety.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther proposed a $912 million spending plan in November, but the city finished 2018 with about $2.2 million in carryover funding that the council can use for programs it wants to support.
More than two-thirds of the city’s budget pays for public safety. In 2019, it expects to spend $622.5 million on police, fire and other smaller divisions within the Department of Public Safety.
The safety budget includes $1.4 million for a new, paid cadet program designed to lure young people into jobs with the police and fire divisions. A class of 20 civilian cadets is planned for each division.
The city also would hire 80 police recruits in 2019, down from 100 in 2018. It would add 75 firefighter recruits. Those hires would largely keep up with attrition from 80 expected retirements in the Division of Police in 2019 and 70 retirements in the fire division.