CINCINNATI — Many city departments are preparing for a potential 5% budget cut come next fiscal year as the city faces a $29.5 million deficit in its operating budget.
For the Cincinnati Fire Department, this cut would equal $8.6 million.
“Finding $8.6 million without compromising service delivery is quite challenging,” Cincinnati Fire Chief Frank McKinley told the city council's budget and finance committee Wednesday.
McKinley said that if their budget is cut, they would need to delay the recruit class of 50 new firefighters and 36 paramedics. Without those recruits, their ability to respond to a sudden increase in service would be reduced, possibly leading to slower response times.
“One of the things that we don’t want the public to be alarmed about is about not having service, or having less of a service,” McKinley said. “And so we wanna make sure that we strategize, sometimes we do fill-ins, sometimes we move apparatus strategically.”
WATCH: Cincinnati Fire Chief shares how budget cuts would impact their work
McKinley shared that the department is also working to decrease overtime in hopes of saving more money.
Several city council members supported the need for recruits and overtime to keep the city safe.
“If safety is number one, we need to make sure the fire department gets every single thing they need, so Cincinnati can remain safe,” said Councilmember Scotty Johnson.
The city’s law department also shared how a 5% cut would impact their services.
They said it would add a “significant strain” on the operations of legislation, public records and more, as well as delayed response times in the appeal process for city citations.
“If that is the cut that we would have to make, it will have an impact on our service delivery,” Cincinnati City Solicitor Emily Smart Woerner said.
Wednesday was the second round of hearings for the committee in relation to possible cuts for city departments.
On Monday, the Cincinnati Police Department presented to the city’s budget and finance committee. Interim Chief Adam Hennie shared that the cut would equal about $11 million, potentially impacting neighborhood patrols, “non-essential tasks”, response times, and specialty units.
The city has until June 30 to approve a budget.
