City Council's budget proposal for the 2025-2026 fiscal year includes increasing the police force, expanding services for the Solid Waste Management Department, and potential raises for non-uniformed city staff and firefighters.This is the perfect time to show your support for local journalism.At current estimates, City Manager Erik Walsh told reporters Wednesday, the city needs to cut about $10.
On Wednesday, the City Council heard staff’s first stab at a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which will be finalized in September.This year, the council got word that existing programs could be on the chopping block as the city looks to expand public safety spending, or they could have to explore collecting additional revenue.Will you become a member today?
“As we started to recover from Covid, our revenue growth is starting to slow down,” said Tate. “As a result, we also need to slow down our expenditure growth as well.”The so-called “trial budget” is intended to give City Council a look at how city finances are matching up with the projects they want to fund.
Council members sounded highly interested in ensuring firefighters’ raises Wednesday, though the trial budget was already showing a $10.6 million deficit based on the city’s proposal. But Walsh said the city will need to either scale back those plans, make cuts elsewhere in the budget or consider raising taxes.