Herald and Review
DECATUR, Ill. — The Decatur City Council approved a $152 million budget Monday, while reassuring residents that cutbacks in the Decatur Fire Department would not endanger public safety.
City Manager Ryan McCrady’s original budget proposal last month included a $1.6 million deficit in the $60 million operating budget, the result of a stagnant forecast for revenues such as sales tax. City officials have since closed the gap by cutting 20 positions, of which 12 were to be layoffs and eight were vacant positions that would be eliminated.
McCrady said Monday that because two employees have since announced they will retire, two planned layoffs in the fire department likely will not occur. Instead, there would be 10 layoffs and 10 vacant positions eliminated throughout the city.
The fire department is still slated to lose four positions next year. The cutbacks will mean that the city will run eight fire companies at a time, instead of nine.
Officials said the situation is not ideal and could potentially lead to longer response times if multiple events occur simultaneously around the city. However, the city already engages in “brownouts,” the term for shutting down a company, about a third of the time, and McCrady said the measures have not jeopardized citizens.
“The best-case scenario is you run nine companies every day. That’s an easy one for us all to agree on,” McCrady said. “But the facts and the situation are that we have limited resources, and we’re doing the best we can to provide the most critical services that we can to our citizens.”
Mayor Mike McElroy said none of the council members liked the idea of running eight companies instead of nine.
“That’s not what this council wants to do. It’s what this council has to do,” McElroy said.
It is not yet clear what other city departments will be affected by the layoffs. Through their union contracts, some employees may be able to “bump” other less-experienced employees with similar positions, and that situation is still playing out, McCrady said.
In other business, the council scheduled a study session to discuss the potential closure of a railroad crossing at 32nd Street north of Faries Parkway.
Citizens who live nearby have objected to closing the crossing, saying the only other way into the neighborhood from the south is frequently blocked by trains. The city had previously announced plans to begin a six-month trial closure today, but McCrady said Monday that would not occur until the council discussion.
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