Foundation for Excellence Releases Draft 2023 Budget

Published on October 06, 2022

The Foundation for Excellence has released its draft 2023 budget for public review. The nearly $24 million budget would continue historic investments in Kalamazoo's neighborhoods and help realize the community vision of Imagine Kalamazoo 2025. 

View the 2023 FFE Budget Transmittal Memo(PDF, 224KB)

View the Draft 2023 FFE City Budget(PDF, 112KB)

The budget includes $4.5 million to stabilize the City of Kalamazoo's General Fund budget and ensure that core services continue reliably; $13.9 million to continue the property tax reduction for every property taxpayer in the city; and $5.4 million for aspirational projects that further our community vision. Through 2022, FFE has invested nearly $150 million to help Kalamazoo residents achieve the lives they want for themselves and their families.

“This draft 2023 Foundation for Excellence and City budget recommends that the City Commission continues the unprecedented investments we have seen since 2017 in Kalamazoo’s youth, small businesses, neighborhoods, and so much more," explained Foundation for Excellence Manager Steve Brown. "In conjunction with American Rescue Plan Act resources to the City, 2023 will also see a continuation of major investments in affordable housing.” 

The 2023 budget would continue successful youth programs like MyCITY summer employment, SuperRec, and All Things Possible. Additional funding would be available to support neighborhood business and entrepreneurs through the Business Development Fund (BDF), Micro Enterprise Grants (KMEG), and Small Business Loan Fund (KSBLF). FFE would fund site acquisition to rebuild housing and support infill housing and anti-gentrification efforts, and neighborhood investments would continue in all neighborhoods, like sidewalk repairs and planting trees. 

“Financial and technical support to small and micro-businesses would not exist in Kalamazoo were it not for FFE and the City of Kalamazoo," Brown continued, "and there would have been effectively no new affordable housing built or renovated since 2017.”

The draft budget will be reviewed by the FFE Finance Committee on October 10. If approved, it would be considered by the full Board of Directors for approval. The City Commission provides final approval as part of the City of Kalamazoo's 2023 budget approval process. All FFE and City Commission meetings are open to the public, allow opportunities for public comment, and are conducted in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. You can view upcoming FFE meetings here

“Because of the Foundation for Excellence we are able to promise our young people and business community that tomorrow will be better than today, and that they are not alone in investing their time, treasure, and talent in Kalamazoo.” 

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