Cleveland will have around 30 code enforcement vacancies to fill this year, according to Mayor Justin Bibb’s 2025 budget proposal. 

This year’s spending plan calls for 120 positions in the code enforcement division of the Building and Housing Department. Only 92 people worked there as of December 2024, according to the budget estimate. 

In a letter introducing the budget proposal, Bibb wrote that “tackling blight through aggressive enforcement” would be a key priority.

“This budget reflects our aggressive strategy to crack down on out-of-town landlords, reduce blighted properties, and protect responsible homeowners through increased civil tickets and accountability structures,” Bibb said in his letter accompanying the budget proposal. 

Council has pressed the Bibb administration to boost its code enforcement staff in order to back up the city’s new, tougher stance on out-of-town landlords. Cleveland updated its housing laws last year to require distant property owners to maintain a local agent. 

Although hiring inside City Hall can be slow, Building and Housing Director Sally Martin O’Toole said she plans to “add significant staff to code enforcement” this year. That includes office workers who would take some paperwork burdens off of housing inspectors.

“One day a week, probably, code enforcement people were spending significant time at the desk, and we want them in the field,” Martin O’Toole said in an interview Monday. 

There were either 110 or 115 code enforcement staff in last year’s budget; different pages of the 2025 budget list different numbers. 

City Hall’s $2.1 billion budget for 2025 increases spending over last year while remaining balanced with the city’s growing revenue. Cleveland City Council will begin its hearings on the budget later this month. 

The mayor is again budgeting for 1,350 police officer positions while the city tries to counteract a years-long decline in the force. Numbers released by the city in January show that attrition appears to have slowed, even though Cleveland again saw its police head count shrink last year. There were 1,137 uniformed police officers on the force as of Jan. 14. 

In his budget letter, Bibb touted his administration’s pay increase for police as a recruitment incentive. He wrote that the city also plans upgrades to police body cameras, Tasers and dashboard cameras. 

The budget also shows that the city spent $26.9 million on police officer overtime in 2024. That’s a small increase over 2023, but well above last year’s budgeted amount of $12.5 million. This year, the city is budgeting for $14 million in police overtime. 

Increase in revenue, higher spending

Overall, the Bibb administration is proposing to spend $805.7 million from the General Fund, which covers basic city services. The amount is $20.5 million more than the city spent last year. 

City Hall projects that it will bring in $806.7 million, thanks to increases in income tax collections, property tax collections and other revenue. While that makes for a narrow balance of just $1 million, the city expects to end the year with $62 million left over from past budgets. 

On top of that, Cleveland has a rainy day fund of $67.6 million plus a $73 million reserve fund for meeting payroll. 

This is the first budget proposal to set aside money for the newly created parks and technology departments. 

The Bibb administration is budgeting $37.8 million for the new Department of Parks and Recreation, which was split off last year from the Public Works Department. 

The budget slates $26.7 million for the Department of Innovation and Technology, which was previously part of the Finance Department.