Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Monday unveiled a $1.9 billion budget proposal for 2017 that puts more money into affordable housing and puts more police officers on patrol downtown.

The plan would invest an extra $16 million into safety, in part to add 48 officers across the city — including 16 who would focus on the 16th Street Mall and the rest of the central business district. And it would plug $5 million — with the hope of another $10 million on the way — into establishing a permanent affordable-housing fund and creating or preserving hundreds of affordable units next year.

“Living here must remain within reach of our workers and families,” Hancock said at a news conference announcing the budget proposal.

Overall, the plan’s total operations spending of $1.9 billion is a 4.4 percent increase over 2016. The general fund, the chunk of the budget that covers the city’s basic operations, would rise 4.5 percent to $1.3 billion. City employment would grow about 2.9 percent, to 12,433 permanent and temporary positions.

In addition to adding police officers, the city plans to hire more civilian employees to staff 911 and purchase more body cameras so that officers can wear them while working off-duty security jobs in uniform.

“I am really excited about the budget,” Denver Police Chief Robert White said.

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August 15, 2016 Denver Police Department promotes 11 officers, including two involved in Ryan Ronquillo shooting Hancock hopes to create a new street crew in the Public Works Department to focus on repairing and maintaining the city’s most important routes. He wants to add another 23 child-welfare case workers, continuing a ramping up in the Human Services Department that saw 51 such case workers hired this year. He plans to spend $2.5 million to repair and build sidewalks on city-owned property, such as parks and libraries. And he hopes to extend the summer hours at five outdoor swimming pools.

Hancock expects to have more than $200 million in the city’s reserve fund by the end of 2017.

“I am proud of this budget,” he said. “It ensures that we continue to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars while also meeting the needs of a growing city.”

The plan must still be approved by the City Council.

City Council President Albus Brooks said he and other members are encouraged by the proposal, at least in the big picture. He said the budget’s new spending hits on each of the council’s priority areas — from safety to affordable housing to mobility.

“From a macro perspective, I think a lot of the council members are relieved that the mayor and the mayor’s office are listening,” Brooks said.

But Brooks said council members must still go through the proposal’s fine details.

One area likely to generate discussion is Hancock’s affordable housing proposal. In Hancock’s vision, the $5 million he wants to invest this year would combine with another $10 million that would come from a tax increase and a new development fee to create a funding source that would ultimately pour $150 million into the problem over the next 10 years. Supporters say the city would not have to go to voters to approve the tax increase because of a 2012 vote to relax Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights rules in the city.

The council still needs to approve that tax-and-fee plan. Several council members, though, have floated an alternate plan: to delay the taxes and fees and use reserve money in the interim to get to $15 million per year. If that happens, Evan Dreyer, Hancock’s deputy chief of staff, said the budget would have to be reworked to keep reserve levels where they are.

A test vote of Hancock’s plan was scheduled Monday night.

Whatever the outcome, Hancock said he is determined to keep the city affordable and livable, even as an estimated 1,000 new people a month move in.

“I think the mark of a great city,” he said, “is you rise to meet those challenges.”