Peoria City Council approves multi-million-dollar spending plan, protects pensions

PEORIA (25News Now) - The City of Peoria has a new multi-million-dollar budget which includes an increase in pension and overtime money for the fire department.

Over the last couple of weeks, different agencies made their case for why they should receive more money compared to last year.

Now the Peoria Fire Department is just one agency that received approval to allocate more money for firefighters to staff the city’s main rescue vehicle.

Mayor Rita Ali says Peorians can be “rest assured this budget supports investments in infrastructure, neighborhoods, new development, business, and people”.

Some of the capital projects soon to be underway include road work on a few of Peoria’s busier streets and intersections including Pioneer Parkway and University along with work along MacArthur Highway.

Money was also approved to support several agencies including the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, the Peoria Civic Center, The Arts Partners, and more.

There is also money set aside for improving sewer and drainage systems in much-needed areas.

Overall, the mayor says this is a record-setting budget for Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025.

During his presentation in October in front of the council, City Manager Patrick Urich said with this spending plan, expenses are on track, the city’s debt will decrease by thousands of dollars and it will help protect pensions for the city’s public safety workers.

One thing to note, the City of Peoria was forced to create a long-term plan to reduce sewage overflow.

These incidents were dumping untreated sewage into the Illinois River during heavy rains and snow melt.

There were about 20-30 overflow events per year. The federal government is mandating the city bring that number down to close to zero.

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