Toledo City Council approved the city's 2017 capital improvements and general fund budgets tonight with changes that allocated another $3 million for residential street repaving and allows new police officers to be hired earlier in the year.

Council voted 11-1 in favor of the Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson's general fund budget and 12-0 in favor of the capital improvements budget, but not before a series of votes on amendments attempting to tweak the spending plans.

Councilman Sandy Spang cast the lone no vote against the 2017 general fund budget.

Mayor Hicks-Hudson in January said she identified $4 million for residential street repair, money not included in her initial spending plans for the year. That $4 million came in part from restructuring city debt that lets Toledo pay less debt service this year but increased future payments considerably.

The additional $3 million brings the total that can be spent this year on residential repaving to $7 million.

Repaving streets was "one of the promises we made to the voters," Mayor Hicks-Hudson said, referring to the campaign last year to renew the city's temporary 0.75 percent income tax.

The additional $3 million for residential streets comes chiefly from higher-than-expected income taxes collected last year and cutting 2017 expenses.

Mayor Hicks-Hudson also increased her expectation for revenue generated from income taxes this year from $173.2 million to $173.65 million

The mayor's changes also moved the start date for the 2017 police class of 40 from Dec. 1 up to Sept. 1 but council quickly stepped in and moved it up even earlier to Aug. 1.

The 2017 proposed capital-spending plan also earmarked $150,000 for pavement crack sealing that council unanimously approved Tuesday and $500,000 was set aside in the general fund budget for mill-and-fill paving this year.

The $7 million worth of residential street repair and the $500,000 for mill and fill will be in addition to 45.5 lane-miles of major street reconstruction and repaving, paid for in part with state and federal grants.

“The proposed general fund amendments are funded through a combination of revenue increases based on revised income tax and local government fund projections, and [spending] reductions that reflect savings on services and supplies, overtime, and wages and benefits due to vacant positions,” Chief Operating Officer Eileen Granata wrote in a letter explaining the changes to councilmen.

In November, 2016, Mayor Hicks-Hudson said she would have to transfer $11.5 million in 2017 out of the city's capital budget into the general fund for 2017 costs. The mayor's last-minute budget amendments also reduced the 2017 capital improvement transfer from $11.5 million to $11,067,300.

The mayor's change to the police class followed Councilman Lindsay Webb's proposal last week to pay for the cost of hiring new police officers five months earlier than the Hicks-Hudson administration had originally planned.

Ms. Webb wanted to spend $1.25 million to hire the 40 police recruits on July 1 rather than Dec. 1, which was the mayor's original plan when she released a proposed budget in November, 2016.

Ms. Webb said the city needs those police officers sooner to keep up with retirements. Police Chief George Kral said up to 150 officers are eligible this year but he expects only 38 to 45 to actually retire.

A police class of 28 cadets hired late last year is scheduled to graduate May 18.

Since revenues in 2016 were better than expected and expenditures were lower than expected, Ms. Webb had proposed using part of that unexpected carryover balance from last year to cover the cost of hiring police officers earlier.

She declined Tuesday to ask for the July start date but instead supported a compromise offered Tuesday by Councilman Theresa Gabriel that it be pushed up to Aug. 1.

Hiring the police class on Sept. 1 would cost taxpayers an extra $753,000 this year rather than the Dec. 1 start date.

The August start date adds another $200,000 to the cost for a total of $953,000.

Council voted 12-0 on the mayor's budget changes that included money for the class of new police recruits to start training in September.

Then council voted 12-0 on Ms. Gabriel's amendment to push the class up to Aug. 1.

Councilman Tom Waniewski had his own plans for some of the unexpected money, which the majority of council rejected.

He proposed using $750,000 to repave a portion of Secor Road in West Toledo from Kenwood Boulevard to Bancroft Street in case a proposed and controversial widening project using grant money is not approved by the city and the village of Ottawa Hills.

“Secor should have been paved years ago with or without the widening,” Mr. Waniewski said. “If widening goes through, the money can be used for other street paving projects.”

Mayor Hicks-Hudson said she is working with Ottawa Hills officials, some of whom voted this week to postpone approving a widening project that includes two roundabouts.

"One of the most pressing needs we have ... is to provide safety for our citizens and one of the most important aspects of safety is that we have safe roads," she said.

The mayor asked council to reject the idea to dedicate the $750,000 to the roadway repaving.

Only councilmen Tyrone Riley, Cecelia Adams, and Mr. Waniewski voted in favor of adding that money to the budget. Councilman Larry Sykes abstained on that vote. Mr. Sykes said he did not have a conflict of interest but abstained nonetheless.

Mr. Waniewski also unsuccessfully proposed creating a $900,000 “District Improvement Grant” program that he called “an attempt to provide financial support to district [councilmen] who are constantly faced with individual capital challenges for our constituents.”

Council voted four in favor and eight against the idea.

The program would have earmarked $150,000 for each of the six districts to be used for capital projects such as LED lighting, curb replacements, or “business corridor enhancements.”

Councilman Sandy Spang said she could not support the idea because those decisions are better made by engineers, other professionals who work for the city, and the mayor's administrations.

Council President Steve Steel, Councilman Peter Ujvagi, Mr. Waniewski, and Ms. Adams voted to support the idea.

Mr. Riley tried to allocate $2.5 million money to repave Bancroft from Parkside to Auburn avenues. The money would have been moved from the city's street construction maintenance and repair fund.

Mayor Hicks-Hudson said pulling money from the street construction maintenance and repair fund would "gut the ability" of the city to get matching grants.

The mayor said Bancroft would be patched this year with the city's mill and fill machinery.

Council voted to reject that budget change with only Mr. Riley, Mr. Waniewski, and Ms Adams voting in favor of that proposal.

Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171 or on Twitter @IgnazioMessina.

First Published March 7, 2017, 8:19 p.m.