COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus City Council approved the mayor’s $1.2 billion budget for 2025.  

The money will fund city initiatives such as after-school activities and job readiness programs. It will also allow the city to add up to 180 police officers and 45 firefighters and also focuses on housing resources and alternative crisis response training.  

However, councilmembers said this is one of the tightest budgets they have worked with, and they had to get creative.  

“The biggest thing was always keeping in the forefront our residents and making sure that we are putting them first,” Councilmember and Finance & Governance Committee Chair Nick Bankston said.  

This billion-dollar budget lays out some of the city’s key priorities.  

“It’s going to be continuing to invest in housing and that’s across the board from building housing, but also our unhoused population. So doubling down on the shelter board and getting them the necessary resources,” Bankston said.   

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther outlined his priorities late last year, including $774 million for neighborhood safety, which will include hiring more first responders and more than $10 million for organizations that support those in need.  

“We will continue to take a lens through our three priorities, which is affordable housing, safe neighborhoods and workforce and economic development,” Bankston said. 

Council said it was about making hard decisions about where funding has to be. 

“There are things that I have fought for as chair of the small business committee that weren’t able to be funded this year, but when we’re talking about making sure that someone has a roof over their head and food in their belly versus continuing to do programs around small business, sometimes you have to make those tough decisions, and that is really what we get elected to do,” Bankston said. 

Bankston says it was a lot of juggling; the finance team cut some contracts and moved some expenses around to get money where it needed to be.