Breaking down Chattanooga’s 2022-2023 city budget

City Council unanimously approved Mayor Tim Kelly’s $350 million operating city budget on its second reading — so what does that mean for Chattanoogans? We’re here to break it down.

The big stuff

• First things first, what you’re probably skimming this article to find — the budget has no tax increases.
• The budget goes into effect July 1 and lasts through June 30, 2023.
• It’s built around Kelly’s One Chattanooga Plan (more on that here, in case you missed it).
• The new budget features $10 million for additional road paving — we know y’all are pumped about that one — $33 million towards affordable housing, $2 million towards homelessness prevention + rehousing efforts, and a 3% raise in the city’s minimum wage.

The nitty gritty (broken down by service)

• 41.51% | Public Safety | Beyond police + fire department expenditures, it will fund violence intervention programs, victim services, and CPD’s recently launched deterrence efforts and Crisis Response Unit, plus a new executive director of community safety and gun violence prevention.
• 35.99% | General Government | City employee salaries, water quality management fees, intergovernmental relations, IT, internal audit, etc.
• 10.73% | Public Works | Garbage pickup, solid waste disposal, building maintenance, brush pickup, city engineer, etc.
• 4.19% | Education + Community Development | Early learning, code enforcement office, homeless and supportive housing, neighborhood services, rec centers, etc.
• 4.05% | Parks + Outdoors | Parks maintenance, parks admin, special events, the city’s parks and outdoors plan.
• 2.22% | Agencies | CARTA, Chambliss Center for Children, United Way of Greater Chattanooga, ArtsBuild, and the Urban League are among the top agencies in this section of the budget.
• 0.91% | Economic Development + Planning | Riverpark artwork, workforce development, city planning, etc.
• 0.40% | Equity + Community Engagement | Employee salary + wages, Medicare, fringe benefits, event planning, etc.

Check out the budget broken down by service, program, department, expense category, and more here.