City council passed the 2013 budget and finalized cuts.FINDLAY, OH (Toledo News Now) – The Findlay city budget for 2013 was approved Wednesday night.
Four million dollars in cuts needed to be made after an income tax levy failed in November. Council members and department heads spent months trying to determine where those cuts would be made.
The fire department was hit the hardest. With $1.9 million in cuts, 21 firefighters are being let go and Fire Station 4 will go unstaffed by May.
The police department will drop to 59 officers, and personnel cuts will be made in the Neat program, recreation department, and parks and streets.
Overall, 30 cuts were made. The city was able to reduce expenses by over $2 million.
Although the 2013 budget is not balanced, it should lead to a balanced budget for 2014.
"We had some issues that we needed to take care of in terms of our employees, so personnel expenses in 2013 are related to layoffs that are pending, but also costs that are associated with those layoffs," said Mayor Lydia Mihalik. "We will actually realize the savings from those personnel decision that we make in 2013 in 2014, so the plan is to go into 2014 with a balanced budget."
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