Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg gave his budget address in Metro Council chambers late Thursday afternoon.(Roberto Roldan / LPM )Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told city leaders Thursday that it's a difficult time for many American to figure out the best way to spend money.Greenberg presented a nearly $1 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year at a Metro Council meeting Thursday afternoon. The mayor, who’s in the final year of his first term and seeking reelection, said the rising costs of fuel and construction, as well as economic uncertainty at the national level, all weighed on his administration as they crafted a proposed spending plan.“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now — rising costs, division and challenges families feel every day,” Greenberg said. “Here in Louisville, we’re not letting that uncertainty stop us from doing what matters.”During a budget briefing ahead of the meeting, Greenberg told reporters the city expects to pay an additional $13 million in premiums just to keep its employees on their existing health insurance plans.He’s proposing Louisville step in to fund programs where federal and state support has decreased. His spending plan includes $505,000 to continue operating five community violence intervention sites, previously funded through federal grants, where a team of outreach workers conduct real-time deescalation and conflict resolution to prevent shootings.Greenberg also wants to spend $500,000 to continue local support for the Meals on Wheels program, which delivers meals to homebound seniors in need.“Seniors will not go hungry as long as I’m mayor,” he said during the briefing.Despite those challenges, Greenberg is proposing millions of dollars in new spending on public safety initiatives, affordable housing and public parks and outdoor spaces.A rendering depicting the future Highlands-Shelby Park library (Louisville Mayor's Office / Submitted )His budget address Thursday included a big announcement about the future of the Highlands-Shelby Park Library: The library will be built at the new Mid City Market development on Bardstown Road. The budget proposes $5 million for the project.The city’s recurring revenue from sources like property taxes and insurance premium taxes is expected to increase by 3.6% in the coming year or about $33 million, without raising rates. Greenberg also wants to increase Louisville’s annual borrowing by more than $50 million.More funding for first respondersGreenberg’s plan would increase the Louisville Metro Police Department’s budget by about 6%, from $246 million to $260 million. That’s mostly driven by raises and salaries, Greenberg said Thursday.His proposed capital budget, which is funded through borrowing, will also include an additional $5 million for a First Responder Training Facility in the South End. LPM News reported earlier this year that the city was set to purchase land along Dixie Highway to house the training center for $6 million.“Every person in Louisville should feel safe and be safe in every neighborhood, every hour, in everything they do,” he said. “This is not a goal, it’s our standard.”Greenberg is proposing to invest $5 million to replace aging, soon-to-expire breathing equipment for the Louisville Fire Department.There’s also funding for some new technologies in the proposed budget, including $400,000 to expand the Metro’s Drone as First Responder program to the edges of Jefferson County and $100,000 for a police pilot program with Star Chase. The tech company offers GPS launchers, which would allow officers to attach a GPS transponder to a vehicle to track it, rather than engage in a dangerous chase.Affordable housing, parks and librariesGreenberg is again proposing the city give $15 million to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which provides gap funding to developers. It would be the largest annual contribution from Louisville Metro in the fund’s history.He put forward a similar proposal last year, but a majority of Metro Council members ultimately voted on a lower contribution, $12.5 million. The decision was driven by council Republicans who expressed skepticism about the Trust Fund’s ability to handle that much money.“They’ve just had a lot of cash coming in over the last three years and that can get overwhelming,” Republican Council Member Kevin Kramer said last June. “So what we’re doing is just saying, ‘Hold on. Let’s see where the money is, see what the programs are, let’s see what’s working.’”The proposed budget also includes:$1 million for down payment assistance to lower-income buyers$2 million for affordable housing subsidies to small developers$500,000 to support the Home for Good initiative, which aims to create more permanent supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessnessAnd $3 million for Dare to Care’s new Hunger Relief Center in west LouisvilleThe budget also includes $1.5 million to tear down the Dosker Manor public housing development.Greenberg said Thursday the city has finished moving Dosker Manor residents to alternative housing, and Louisville Metro is ready to move forward with redevelopment.A rendering of a proposed "canopy walk" in Jefferson Memorial Forest (Louisville Mayor's Office / Submitted )A proposed $5 million allocation to Jefferson Memorial Forest would help implement some of the changes outlined in the recently announced master plan. Greenberg told reporters the funding would fully cover the cost to build “the longest canopy walk in the country.”“We want to make that a world-class destination for people to continue to be able to hike there, to enjoy nature,” he said. “So, it needs some improvements and some amenities.”Greenberg is also proposing $4.5 million to renovate the Sun Valley Pool in southwest Jefferson County. The work would begin as soon as the pool closes for the summer.Metro Council members reactThe mayor’s annual budget address to Louisville Metro Council is only the starting point.Metro Council members will now spend the next two months digging into the budget and making changes. Leaders from every city department will come before the council’s Budget Committee to justify their asks.Following Greenberg’s speech Thursday, Democratic and Republican leaders on Metro Council gave their initial reactions.District 1’s Tammy Hawkins, who heads the Democratic Caucus, said she thinks Greenberg’s proposal includes elements both sides will like.“The mayor touched on pretty much every part of the city and to be able to do that without taxes speaks volumes,” Hawkins said.Metro Council Member Kevin Kramer, a Republican and chair of the Budget Committee, said he appreciated that Greenberg mentioned deferred maintenance in public parks in his address.“Fundamentally, we have to take care of that, but that’s not the only place we’re seeing deferred maintenance,” Kramer said. “We have facilities that we own that are in terrible shape, we have culverts that are sliding off of roads. … So, I want to get in and see what we’re doing with deferred maintenance across the board.”Kramer said the Budget Committee will begin to dig deeper into the mayor’s proposed budget in the coming weeks. Only then, he said, will council members be able to talk in-depth about what they think is missing.“It really won’t be until we get into the numbers that we’ll be able to talk about details and how excited we are about the final product,” Kramer said.Metro Council’s first budget hearing is scheduled for May 7, when Office of Management and Budget staff will make a presentation about the city’s expenditures and debt. ...read more read less