Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham unveiled his 2025 budget proposal detailing his plans for the city on Monday evening at City Hall. It is now in the hands of the City Council.

Totaling approximately $108 million, the budget proposal addressed numerous challenges facing the city of Binghamton, like infrastructure, poverty and the housing crisis while maintaining fiscal responsibility to protect taxpayers. Local property and sales taxes serve as the budget’s top-two revenue streams with taxes for homeowners set to increase by 0.9 percent. Mentioning public safety as one of his top priorities, the mayor’s budget allocates $15.3 million to the Binghamton Police Department, which he says will ensure the department is fully staffed and for new public safety technology and programs.

“I think the top priorities for the city really boil down to public safety, investments in infrastructure, investments in housing, investments in youth programs like parks and recreation, as well as responsible fiscal budgeting that keeps the tax rate low and allows us to promote growth and economic development for the future,” Kraham said in an interview.

The mayor said he plans to hire more police officers who pass the upcoming civil service exam and predicts the department will have a full police force over the next two to three years. To reduce gun violence, the budget will invest $1 million in police foot and bike patrols on neighborhood streets and Downtown. Kraham said there will be more investments in “special units for hot-spot policing, undercover narcotics investigations, traffic safety details, school resource officers and collaborations with neighborhood watch groups.”

The budget will invest over $7.6 million in repairing Binghamton’s critical infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks and water and sewer lines to maintain the city’s access to clean drinking water. For pedestrian safety, another $4 million will be used to install new signals and constructing bump-outs on Main Street. Federal grants will cover around 75 percent of the project.

Kraham announced a $4.4 million project to bring more upgrades for a walkable arts district Downtown. The project will add “new lighting and landscaping, pedestrian safety upgrades, and a full street reconstruction” to State, Henry, Washington and Lewis Streets.

The budget also invests in green infrastructure. Kraham said the city has partnered with VINES, a local nonprofit “committed to developing a sustainable and just community food system.” Their new Susquehanna Street headquarters will be Binghamton’s first net-zero energy building. To expand City Hall’s green infrastructure, the Mayor proposed installing LED lighting, weatherizing the building and utilizing energy-saving technology. Forty-two new electric vehicle charging stations will be built around Binghamton.

On city parks, Kraham announced that earlier this year, Binghamton purchased the St. Mary’s Rec Center Downtown, which will serve as its first city-run youth recreation center. The budget also plans to invest $100,000 in the South Side’s Ross Park to upgrade the visitor parking lot area and a $230,000 state grant will go toward renovating the pool in the West Side’s Recreation Park.

City Councilwoman Kinya Middleton, who represents the second district, said she and the council will focus on reviewing the budget in the coming weeks before making a final decision. Councilman Nate Hotchkiss ‘12 shared his support for many of the budget proposal’s top priorities but expressed hesitation to embrace the precise allocation suggested by the mayor.

“I’m encouraged to see that the Mayor has come to share many of Council’s stated priorities,” Hotchkiss wrote to Pipe Dream. “We know that it’s more important than ever that this City address the affordable housing crisis and create a safe environment for this City’s youth to thrive. However, we do not necessarily agree with the Mayor’s recommended allocation of funding — we have to ensure that we are doing our due diligence in fulfilling this City’s needs. For too long, the administration has left our greatest needs unaddressed. This City Council will ensure that Binghamton’s taxpayers the most out of their tax dollars.”