Community Updates: Friday, May 6

GR City Manager presents the proposed FY2023 Preliminary Fiscal Plan to the City Commission

On Tuesday, May 3, City Manager Mark Washington presented the 2023 Preliminary Fiscal Plan to the Grand Rapids City Commission. "The FY2023 Preliminary Fiscal Plan represents a continuation of fiscally sustainable essential services with an acknowledgement that recent events require leaders to address urgent questions," Mr. Washington stated. "Those include improving public safety, accelerating police reform, increasing investment in oversight, ensuring equitable community engagement and supporting the community's equitable recovery and growth." The plan is set to go into effect on July 1, 2022, and community leaders hope that it will foster community growth and improvement. 

The plan proposes investments from a number of different funding sources, such as enterprise funds, federal/state allocations, and the General Operating Fund. It also expects a couple of tax changes, including a 4% increase in income tax revenues (plus a 3% increase for each subsequent year) and a 2% property tax millage rate reduction. With these funds, the City of Grand Rapids hopes to support and maintain public services, hire additional city staff, and invest in affordable housing and community-led improvement projects (among other things). The FY2023 Preliminary Fiscal Plan has also proposed:

• A 4.4% budget cut for the Grand Rapids Police department (from 38.6% in FY2021 to 34.2% in FY2023)
• The allocation of $700,000 towards a co-response mental health mobile crisis team from Network180
• An increase in funding for the Office of Oversight and Public Accountability 

"Over the past two years and these last few critical weeks, our employees have remained steadfast in their commitment to delivering on our mission of elevating the quality of life through excellent city services," remarked City Manager Mark Washington. "Our dedicated workforce stands ready to usher in a new era of progress that will drive Grand Rapids toward our vision of being an equitable, welcoming, innovative, and collaborative city with a robust economy, safe and healthy community, and the opportunity for a high quality of life for all. We are committed to continuous improvement and innovation across our entire organization."

For more information, the full presentation given to the Grand Rapids City Commission is available here.

GRPD asks the public for information regarding a shooting

At around 5:35pm on Thursday, May 5, 2022, GRPD officers responded to reports of a shooting on Grand Rapids' southwestern side. When they arrived on the scene, they found a 41-year-old woman in the driveway of 2321 Buchanan Ave. SW. She had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the legs and was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

According to witnesses, multiple suspects exited a vehicle and shot off several rounds that hit the victim. The Grand Rapids Police Department does not currently have any suspect information to release. Anyone with information is encouraged to speak with detectives at (616) 456-3380. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.  

Also in the News:

• There were two additional shootings in Grand Rapids on Thursday evening -- one on Cass Avenue and another at the Wing Heaven restaurant on Eastern Avenue. Two men were injured in the shooting on Cass Avenue. No one was injured in the shooting of the restaurant on Eastern Avenue. These two incidents, along with the shooting on Buchanan Avenue, happened within a few hours of each other. Police are working to figure out whether or not these shootings are related. 

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