Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce issues statement on City of Dayton’s 2023 budget

DAYTON — Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce issued a statement Saturday regarding the City of Dayton’s 2023 budget.

>>Special Commission Meeting to discuss City of Dayton’s 2023 budget today

It called for, “a swift collaboration & timely passage of the City of Dayton’s 2023 operating budget by our City Commissioners,” in a statement on its Twitter account.

City businesses must have confidence, “in the essential services that employers rely on every day,” the Dayton Chamber of Commerce said.

It said the business community must have an effective operating city.

“We encourage all of the Dayton City Commissioners to collaborate and come to a timely passage of the operating budget so that the City can maintain continuity of services that support the business and economic growth of Dayton,” the Chamber of Commerce said.

>>RELATED: Police, fire service in question as Dayton City Commission fails to pass 2023 budget

A special Commission Meeting is taking place to discuss the future of the City of Dayton’s 2023 budget.

The Dayton City Commission was set to vote on the budget at their meeting Wednesday night. The vote didn’t happen because Commissioners Shenise Turner-Sloss and Darryl Fairchild abstained from voting for the budget as an emergency ordinance.

If passed with four out of five votes as an emergency ordinance, then the budget would take effect immediately. If passed by a simple majority as a non-emergency ordinance, then it would not take effect until 30 days after it is approved.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: City commissioners release statement after abstaining from budget vote

At a press conference Friday afternoon, Fairchild and Turner-Sloss discussed further their reasoning behind abstaining from the vote.

Turner-Sloss said there were seven days between when the proposed budget became public and when the commission was set to vote on it as an emergency ordinance.

“The public did not have time to sufficiently vet it,” Turner-Sloss said.

Fairchild, who voted against the 2021 budget, claimed that this year’s budget did not act sufficiently as a “good steward” of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds. Additionally, he said it did not invest sufficiently in the improvement of the city’s neighborhoods and youth.

On Thursday, Mims said that there was no indication that Fairchild and Turner-Sloss would oppose the budget during the meeting.

If a budget is not approved between now and the end of the year, the City of Dayton would be forced to shut down on January 1. If an agreement is not reached, this would be the first time that the City of Dayton would possibly shut down.

We’ll continue to provide updates to this story.

©2022 Cox Media Group