The Denver City Council gave final approval Monday to next year’s $1.8 billion operating budget and to a significant rollback of panhandling rules.

Among notable budget components are $24 million to pay for reform efforts in the Denver Sheriff Department, including the hiring of dozens more deputies; $8 million for affordable housing project subsidies; and an expansion of curbside composting pickup.

Other increases will pay to equip police with body cameras, hire more building permit reviewers and child welfare staffers, and open a homeless “solutions center” in Athmar Park.

Unlike the budget, which council members generally applauded, the panhandling ordinance changes won quiet approval in a 9-0 block vote with no discussion.

Reacting to a recent federal ruling striking down Grand Junction’s panhandling law, Denver city attorneys asked the council to make changes that stripped out provisions based on what a person says. That leaves intact restrictions that are based on actions and threats.

The upshot is that panhandlers legally will be able to solicit for handouts near ATMs and after dark, ask a person for money repeatedly after being turned down, and solicit on light-rail trains and buses.

In an earlier committee meeting, some council members had worried about the extra latitude panhandlers would have. City lawyers cited a review showing 75 percent of last year’s citations for panhandling still would be violations under the revised ordinance.

The budget won approval 10-0 after council members lauded the priorities it reflected and noted the city’s flush coffers, with a strong economy sparing officials from having to make difficult cuts.

Some had misgivings, though, about what they saw as plans to hire too few new police recruits next year, and Mayor Michael Hancock’s rejection last week of a council amendment that would have added $250,000 for a freight rail safety study.

Those issues were at the center of the only budget clashes with Hancock.

The spending plan includes money for 44 police recruits, but Hancock declined a council request to increase that to 100. Instead, he set aside $1.5 million that he says will be available if a new working group recommends adding more officer positions.

Hancock also said he would form a study team to look at rail safety near recently developed neighborhoods, including the Central Platte Valley. But he declined to dedicate the $250,000 that the council requested.

“The investments in this spending plan will allow us to maintain our reform efforts in the Sheriff Department and improve transparency and accountability by equipping more Denver police officers with body-worn cameras,” said a statement from Hancock after the council’s vote. “The budget also will allow us to strengthen our safety net, improve mobility and transportation options, increase our stock of affordable housing and deliver on projects all across the city that will sustain Denver’s progress well into the future.”

Councilwoman Robin Kniech highlighted increases for transportation planning, composting (with three new pickup routes set to be added next year) and affordable housing subsidies.

“I think with my colleagues, we had a big impact on this budget,” she said.

The city’s portion of the property tax rate will decrease next year because of a tax collection growth cap. That won’t equate to a tax cut because this year’s property reassessment sent values soaring.