City Council subcommittee budget discussions continue over public safety, DPW

Advocate Staff Report

The City Council’s Ways and Means Subcommittee spent two days this week combing through individual city department budgets prior to the council’s vote on the 2026 budget later this month. It was a smooth couple of days: no raised voices, no disputes. Councillors took advantage of the time to compliment department heads on different programs and services and to ask what type of support would best suit their needs.

Department heads described the past year’s accomplishments and most presented level funding budgets. Even the big three, Police, Fire and Public Works, were not asking for any major increases. The School Department was also scheduled to present the district’s budget, but school officials are in the process of finalizing the numbers.

“Our budget is pretty much the same as last year,” acting Fire Dept. Chief James Cullen told the committee. “We’re down a couple of positions we didn’t fill and will remain unfilled. Other than that, everything is pretty much as it is.”

Interim Police Chief Maria LaVita had similar news about the Police Department. “Everything looks in line with the way it looked last year,” LaVita told councillors.

Some department heads noted it is a difficult time for the city and they will focus on the future when more funding may be available. Throughout the budget presentations, there was a sense of the city pulling together to get over the hump. Some trends did emerge during the discussions.

Staffing seems to be a challenge for different departments. The Dept. of Public Works is down a couple of laborers. The Police Department is budgeted for 112 officers. Currently, there are 102 on the force. The Fire Department has 119 uniformed firefighters. Last year, there were 122.

“We hope to get manpower up over the next few years,” said Cullen.

Chief Financial Officer Richard Viscay filled in details for several budgets, such as the reorganization of Public Works and other efficiencies found through consolidation or technology.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the budget at their meeting on June 23.