Warren's next budget includes more OT funding for police and fire departments
The Warren City Council passed a city budget for fiscal year 2026 Tuesday night that gives some employees a boost in pay and adds more funds for police and firefighter overtime.
The council decreased overtime funding in the budget for other departments as it made amendments to the proposal delivered by Mayor Lori Stone in April, when she laid out a $430.5 million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Her budget represented a 24.3% increase over the current fiscal year's budget. It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday night how much the total changed after the council made its amendments.
The amendments included increasing funding for overtime in the police and fire departments. City Council Secretary Mindy Moore said earlier Tuesday that the Warren Police Department is "woefully understaffed," and said the mayor hadn't planned enough money for overtime.
The council also reduced the amount of money in the budget for overtime for city departments and divisions, including the Mayor's Office, 37th District Court, Treasurer and Controller offices, information systems department and animal control.
Councilman Jonathan Lafferty said after the meeting the council reviewed past overtime expenditures and anticipated overtime in departments. The council "tried to get those numbers closer to actual," he said.
The council added or reclassified some positions and increased the wage rates for positions. It increased the wages for the director of public services from $138,500 to $149,000.
Moore said the council found that several department leaders were significantly underpaid.
"We have addressed this by adjusting a few key salaries," she said at the meeting. "Simultaneously, we trimmed overtime and tightened line item spending in many departments, based on historical trends and actual needs."
Council President Angela Rogensues said in a statement the budget reflects a total tax levy of 27.1535 mills and supports “core city services such as public safety, library services, parks and recreation, and infrastructure improvements.”
She said the council took "a conservative approach" to discretionary spending, eliminating "unsubstantiated outreach expenditures" and deferring several capital items pending further justification or feasibility studies.
"I am proud of the work that was done this year by City Council to ensure that vital services are funded while taking a fiscally conservative approach as we monitor the economic conditions and rapidly changing federal policies that impact our community and revenue,” she said.
The council also changed the budget to include the revenue it anticipates from marijuana shops through permits and fees. The council passed an ordinance earlier in the spring that provides a way for recreational marijuana establishments to open in the city.
Police and fire overtime
Moore said the mayor’s proposed budget for overtime in the Police Department was "not realistic at all.”
“We have a woefully understaffed Police Department due to hiring problems in the past,” she said. “We're hoping that's going to get better.”
She said the city has a new human resources director and that the Police Department has “taken over a major part of the hiring process,” and she would like to see an increase in the number of officers.
The Police Department asked for $2 million for overtime for officers in the budget; Stone included $1 million. The council increased that number to $1.5 million, Moore said.
The Fire Department asked for $2 million in overtime for firefighters, and the mayor included $750,000 in the budget for the department's OT. The council increased that number to $1.4 million.
She said the department could take steps to reduce the amount it spends on overtime. One of the council's amendments included hiring an “efficiency consultant,” who would identify ways to streamline operations and reduce overtime.
Sludge incinerator
The budget also includes a $75 million loan, which will pay for a multi-year project to replace the sludge incinerator at the wastewater treatment plant. The city plans to replace its roughly 50-year-old incinerator, which combusts sludge, with a more modern system. Sludge is what is left after raw sewage is treated and water is filtered out.
The city will receive the loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Donna Dordeski, Warren's wastewater treatment sanitary engineer, said the city found out last year that it had made the list of qualified projects for the funding. She said the loan interest rate for Warren is 2%.
Construction on the project is expected to begin this year.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Warren's next budget includes more OT funding for police and fire departments
