Funding Cops and Developers: Grand Rapids City Commission unanimously approves FY2026 Budget

On May 20th, the City of Grand Rapids released the following statement:

“The Grand Rapids City Commission on Tuesday unanimously adopted a $735 million fiscal year 2026 (FY26) budget, advancing a comprehensive plan to maintain essential services, invest in community priorities and sustain transformational projects across the city.”

The issue of “sustaining transformational projects” means things like using public money for the Amphitheater and the Soccer Stadium. Grand Action 2.0, which was founded in part by the DeVos family, is the entity that pushed both of these projects, which will create even more of a parking nightmare in downtown Grand Rapids. The Amphitheater has contracted with Live Nation to book shows, even though Live Nation is facing a major lawsuit by the US Department of Justice. The Soccer Stadium will be called the Amway Stadium and both the DeVos and Van Andel families will own the team, which is what anyone who has been paying attention would expect.

In addition, the City’s Press Release on the budget fails to mention the amount for the GRPD and everything that is connected to the GRPD. According to the Grand Rapids City Budget, the GRPD will be receiving $69.1 million. However, this amount is misleading, since the GRPD is part of a system of state carceral violence. You can see from the graphic above how many budgetary categories are connected to the GRPD, which includes items with a red arrow. In fact, if you add up all of those items, the total budget for the state carceral system would be $92.7 million.

Then there are other budgetary items, what falls under the category of Safe Community. This category is listed as “proposed” and would allocate an additional $154.6 million. Here is what is included under the Safe Community proposal: 

• $5.9 million to reduce Police and Fire department vacancies, right-size to meet demand for public safety services, and augment services through partnerships and contracting. 
• $2.7 million for crime prevention and violence reduction through community partnerships and innovative approaches to improve community safety by addressing root causes of crime and violence, and by redirecting non-violent individuals toward supportive resources rather than into the criminal justice system. 
• $6.6 million for other public safety services responsive to community needs and concerns including court representation for low-income defendants, residential fire safety, and the SAFE Task Force. 
• $20.8 million in Safe Community capital investments, including emergency protection equipment and 800MHZ backup radio system replacement for Police, updated radios at each siren site for Dispatch, ballistics forensics, three kits to allow off-site 911 Dispatcher call- taking and dispatch capabilities, and continued construction of Kendall Street and Division Avenue fire stations and fire training center. 

If we add the cost for all the items in graphic above, along with the proposed Safe Community costs, it would be $247.3 million for policing and the state carceral system. 

You can download Resident’s Guide to Fiscal Year 2026, by going to this link.