CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Half the year is gone, but city leaders are already looking ahead to what's in store for next year. The new proposed budget for 2023 comes out to a whopping $1.4 billion.
City Manager, Peter Zanoni said this is the largest ever proposed street maintenance and reconstruction budget in one year.
"This is a record-setting budget for the City of Corpus Christi," Zanoni said. "Not only is it the largest budget $1.4 billion, but it as the most critical services ever to the city in recent decades."
Public safety including law enforcement and the fire department are at the top of the agenda. The budget adds 25 new police officer positions, as well as 24 more firefighter positions.
"Our biggest priority is public safety. That means more police officers, more firefighters, more EMS units," Zanoni said.
Zanoni added that having more boots on the ground is important in increasing that sense of security and safety. But what people use daily, are the roads.
And for many residents that is the biggest priority.
"Especially neighborhood streets, those are ones that we still have to get a lot of attention to," Zanoni said. "We've done great on what we know, to be the arterials and collectors."
$136 million is projected to go toward roads next year. But parks and recreation will also be seeing some of those dollars at work.
"What we want in our parks are amenities so that families, hardworking families, or even single people can go in and enjoy the great outdoors, barbecue pits, picnic tables, shade, trees, and amenities like swimming pools, basketball courts," Zanoni said.
There's over $2 million in this budget set aside for amenities and all city council districts in the park system. Zanoni also addressed the higher cost of living.
"We have a cost of living adjustment that would be going into effect October one," Zanoni said. "We know that with inflation, everybody's struggling."
Some of that funding also going toward signage, welcoming people as they get closer to the sparkling city by the sea.
"This budget addresses those key priorities that also has other amenities like signage, monument signage when we come into our city now, you know, you're coming into Corpus Christi," Zanoni said.
To learn more about the community input sessions, click here.
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