Elijah Hurewitz-Ravitch, Contributing Photographer

After weeks of confrontation with the new Trump administration, Mayor Justin Elicker took a cautious approach in his proposal for next year’s budget on Friday.

At a City Hall press conference announcing the budget, Elicker said that the tumult surrounding federal funding — on which New Haven relies heavily — resulted in a budget proposal that is “primarily status quo.” With enormous federal cuts a legitimate possibility, the budget may need to be amended midyear, he added. 

Elicker’s proposed General Fund budget totals $703.7 million, a modest 2.6 percent increase from last year’s approved budget of $679.1 million. His budget proposal also includes a 2.3 percent increase in property taxes, which Elicker touted as “the lowest tax rate … in the past two decades” with the exception of the last two years.

“It’s a time of tremendous uncertainty,” Elicker said. “We’ve all felt that in the last month, there’s been a lot of chaos coming from Washington, D.C. In the city of New Haven, we’re proud to say that we’re charting a different course.”

Emphasizing fiscal caution and promised stability, the mayor explained how he hopes to successfully navigate uncertainty from Washington.

The proposed budget includes $62.6 million in Special Revenue Funds — funding beyond normal revenue, a large portion of which comes from the federal government.

New Haven relies on federal funds that are now in jeopardy to address long-standing challenges, such as the state of the New Haven Public Schools, Elicker said. 

His budget proposal includes $15 million in additional funding for NHPS facilities to help address a maintenance crisis in the school’s buildings. This brings the budget’s total spending on education to $213,263,784, an increase from $208,263,784 in the last fiscal year.

The New Haven Federation of Teachers — the union representing NHPS teachers — recently filed a complaint with Connecticut OSHA over allegedly unsafe conditions in NHPS schools.

“You name it, our buildings are struggling with it,” Elicker admitted after the press conference, mentioning HVAC issues and mold.

But the mayor was adamant that New Haven has “done [its] part,” and Connecticut “must do more.”

Elicker also emphasized his proposal’s increased investment in public safety, including full funding for the new police contract and support for the continued installation of security cameras across the city.

The proposed budget would also create 13 new city positions, including building inspectors to keep pace with “significant economic development activity,” parking enforcement personnel, and a new chief data officer.

These proposed positions are part of a larger initiative to modernize government in New Haven.

The city is eager to “use technology to our advantage,” Shannon McCue, New Haven’s new budget director, told the News.

The budget adoption process at City Hall lasts three months. In this time, the Board of Alders Finance Committee will hold workshops, deliberations and public hearings to amend and approve the mayor’s proposal. During last year’s negotiations, $1.3 million was whittled off Elicker’s proposed budget.

After the press conference, the mayor acknowledged a tension between New Haveners’ perception of the city government’s inefficiency and the reality that, as he put it, “things cost money.”

“Oftentimes, when I talk with residents, they say, ‘You should be doing this more, you should be doing that more.’ But they don’t always connect it with the fact that we have to pay for these things … We’re always trying to thread the needle to make sure that we’re not putting undue burden on residents with taxes, but also delivering on services,” Elicker told the News.

The mayor praised the city for having “five straight years of balanced budget,” improving bond ratings and building up rainy day reserves.

Elicker will hold two town halls on March 18 and 26 to discuss his budget proposal with residents.