By Madeleine Willis
The Kankakee City Council met on July 17 to report revenue for offices. The motion was passed for the City of Kankakee bill in the amount of $854,460.07.
The Environmental Services Utility bill unanimously passed with a total of $677,336.11.
New business discussed at the council meeting included an ordinance to adopt the annual Kankakee budget for the fiscal year May 1, 2023 – April 30, 2024.
Mayor Chris Curtis spoke before voting on the budget, saying, “This budget is a reflection of our communities priorities…the first priority is that the city continues to be fiscally disciplined and focused on the city’s finances…second public safety is a priority in this budget…”
The budget creates a new office to help fight violent crime in the City of Kankakee and is the office of violence prevention.
“For the first time, the city will have a team of people who will focus on youth engagement, employment, violence and eruption, and other community based strategies that will take a team approach in preventing violence and ensuring public safety in the long term initiative,” Curtis said.
The Council also budgeted $2 million self-funded into the capital account for the future; Mayor Curtis pronounced this to be one of the first times this happened over generations, and it’s a very big step for the City of Kankakee going forward.
The ordinance passed 13 to 0.