LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Little Rock Board of Directors tasked with crunching the City Budget for 2020 at a meeting held Tuesday night.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. says they’ve been discussing the budget for the past month and a half.
“The goal is to have a balanced budget that meets the needs of all of our citizens and focuses on our highest priority which is economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, public safety and quality of life,” Frank Scott Jr. said.
Board members discussed several things at Tuesday’s meeting.
Rock Region Metro would see a more than three quarter million dollar raise.
People were opposed to transferring $2 million dollars from street funds to Rock Region Metro.
One man says there are too many streets and roads in the city that need attention.
“It’s nothing new for the city to utilize street funds to help pay for Rock Region Metro it’s our public transit formerly known as CATTA and so it’s nothing new now. There has always been some consternation of moving of those funds however public transit is a high priority of mobility for all citizens of Little Rock,” Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey also spoke at Tuesday’s meeting.
The Little Rock Police Department would receive about a $2 million dollar increase.
Chief Humphrey spoke about moving from 12-hour work shifts to 10-hour work shifts.
He also talked about approving community-police relationships.
The 2020 budget includes increased funding from the 2019 amended budget for the Little Rock Zoo.
The zoo could receive more than $339,000 dollars in extra funding than last year.
The zoo is already dealing with reduced hours after some of its funding was cut last year.
Through February the zoo is closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The budget would also include more than half a million dollars in reduced funding to the golf courses.
The Pulaski County Jail would see a 25 percent jump or about a half a million.
Board members also spoke about a Curbside Glass Recycling Service.
It would cost $3.39.
Many people were not in favor of the idea.
To read more about the 2020 Little Rock City Budget, click here.
