Mayor Dwight C. Jones is proposing to pour millions of dollars into wage increases for city employees, most notably police officers and firefighters.

He also wants to equip the police with body cameras and modernize the 911 emergency communications system at a cost of more $50 million.

On the poverty front, he is proposing to invest $975,000 to create more affordable housing and $425,000 to launch a new program to help struggling people repair or replace broken plumbing and avoid having their utilities cut off.

However, Mayor Jones left public education advocates disappointed by offering only limited support for the school system’s plans to improve academic performance and only partial support to help meet huge school maintenance needs.

Those are among the highlights of Mayor Jones’ proposed $2.8 billion, two-year budget plan presented last Friday to City Council — a plan he balanced with a 1.5 percent across-the-board spending cut for all city departments.

Council will have the final say in shaping the budget, and must complete its work before May 31.

The mayor’s plan calls for the city to spend $689 million on schools, police, trash collection, street paving, social services and other operations in the 2016 fiscal year that begins July 1. That’s about $3,220 for each of the estimated 214,000 men, women and children in the city. It’s also about the same level of spending as the current year.

For the second year of his plan, fiscal year 2017, Mayor Jones calls for spending $700 million, or about $3,270 per person.

One big takeaway from the budget plan is that the city has yet to see any dramatic spurt in revenues flowing into its coffers despite all the bold talk about Richmond’s growing population and bustling appearance. The mayor’s spending plan indicates the city will have about the same level of revenue to spend in FY2016 and only about 1.5 percent more in FY2017.

The mayor did not propose any increase in taxes, but he noted that he is proposing increases in utility bills, primarily to help pay for replacing outdated underground pipes. For the average residential consumer, the increase is expected to be about $5.95 a month.

Also, he left out of his budget address any mention of the project that dominated the conversation last year — development of a new minor league baseball park in Shockoe Bottom and redevelopment of city property on the Boulevard.

Mayor Jones’ biggest initiative is clearly on the pay front.

During the next two years, he proposes to invest $7.3 million to boost starting pay for new police officers and firefighters by $5,500. Starting pay would rise from $36,500 to $41,000 in the first year and to $42,000 in 2017.

He also proposed to spend additional money to provide salary increases for veteran officers, including a step increase and extra pay for career development in 2017.

The pay hikes are aimed at reducing turnover among public safety personnel who are being lured away by higher salaries in other communities.

“Public safety remains a priority,” the mayor told the council. “It’s time to show our police officers and firefighters that we value their work.”

In addition, his plan calls for spending about $2 million in 2016 to provide a 2 percent pay raise — the first in years — for the nearly 4,000 other city employees, with a similar amount proposed for 2017. Employees of constitutional offices, including sheriff’s deputies, also would benefit, he said.

In addition, he proposed to pour additional millions into shoring up the city’s pension plan and to pick up for the third year the increase in health insurance costs for employees, saving them $1.1 million.

On the public education front, the mayor talked up education as a priority, saying, “I strongly believe that a good education is the best tool to help people rise from poverty.”

Still, he declined to boost city funding for Richmond Public Schools’ operations.

He did propose to dip into the city’s reserves to provide a one-time, $10 million contribution, but made it contingent upon agreement being reached between his office, City Council and the School Board on ways to reduce the 9,300 vacant seats in city schools, as well as an evidence-driven approach to academic improvement.

Still, that is nowhere near the $26 million increase the School Board requested for FY2016 to implement Superintendent Dana T. Bedden’s plan for improving academics.

Meanwhile, the mayor gave more attention to School Board cries for more money for maintenance. The board requested $30 million to deal immediately with worn-out heating and cooling systems and leaky roofs and basements, plus $5 million to cover the cost of improving technology and leasing new buses.

The mayor proposed only $13.1 million for maintenance, or nearly $2 million less that the city’s chief financial officer, Norman Butts, had indicated was needed last month. It’s more than the $5 million the mayor proposed for the current year, but well below the School Board’s asserted need.

As the Free Press earlier reported, the mayor optimistically embraced the idea that the school system could gain $20 million for maintenance through a program called performance management.

Essentially, such a program would allow for the school system to hire a company to overhaul buildings, with the company being paid over 15 years from savings on electricity, gas and other energy sources.

Assistant Superintendent Tommy Kranz said it would likely take six months or more to develop a performance plan. Major energy savings per building would require replacement of windows, internal lighting, electrical wiring and other renovations.

“We’ll have to see how it works out,” he said.