Tuesday night, members of the Joplin city council met for the first of three meetings this week to discuss the city’s 2023 budget. City Manager Nick Edwards indicated that renewed focus on solving the city’s homelessness problem would be a priority. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

According to the city’s 2023 proposed budget available at Joplinmo.org, officials estimate expenditures of nearly $150 million next year.

The phrase “homelessness” appears precisely once in the proposed budget under key initiatives. Joplin City Manager Nick Edwards pledged a restored emphasis on establishing a community-based homeless strategic plan.

“One of the big initiatives that I’ll be working with Tony and you all with is the homeless strategic plan. We’ve got to have some plan or how to address this issue. It’s complex, it’s complicated, and it’s going to take everybody in the community coming together to talk about it.”

According to the annual point-in-time count conducted every January by the Economic Security Corporation of southwest Missouri, Joplin had its highest number of homeless individuals in January 2012. The year after the tornado.

This year the organization reported a 22% decrease in the number of homeless over the past five years. For 89 9 KRPS, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro