Carissa, the city’s civil service director, told the council the 2026 comprehensive (comp) budget is slightly smaller than her 2025 approved budget and asked for modest amendments to core operational lines to support hiring and testing for public-safety positions.

Carissa said the 2026 comp budget is “actually less than my 2025 originally approved budget by $5,315,” and asked the council to restore several targeted items: a $4,000 increase to the part-time senior clerk line (to cover a 20-hour-per-week minimum and Saturday exams), an increase in postage and office-supply lines, and an increase in the medical-exam line from the comp budgeted $5,000 up to her requested $10,000.

Why this matters: Civil service is the administrative unit that handles prehire medical and psychological screening for police officers and firefighters. Carissa told the council that when chiefs estimated hiring needs for 2026 they combined to about 11 candidates who may go through the medical/psychological screening, and that the psychological and medical providers have recently increased fees. She said the per-candidate testing package runs just under $1,000 in typical cases and that additional specialist referrals (for example, cardiology) raise costs.

Key details

- Carissa asked that the medical exam line be restored to $10,000 (comp shows $5,000). She said each candidate’s testing costs run “just under a thousand dollars.”
- She requested $4,000 additional for the part-time senior clerk line (raising it to roughly $24,000 in the comp request); the clerk supports Saturday civil-service exams and weekday operations.
- Civil service receives a guaranteed reimbursement from the Saratoga Springs School District under New York State Education Law 2503.16; that reimbursement is computed by the school’s year-end employee counts and offsets roughly half of civil service’s budgeted costs.

Anticipated hires and contingency

Carissa said chiefs reported an expected combined total of about 11 police and fire candidates for potential entry in early 2026; she also noted that retirements and resignations can be rescinded, so the exact number may change. She urged the council to fund the medical-exam line to avoid short-term reappropriations if retirements are finalized and positions must be filled quickly.

Training and travel

Carissa requested $1,500 to send civil-service staff and, if appropriate, volunteer commissioners to the state civil-service annual training (previously held locally; the 2026 session will require lodging and mileage for staff). She characterized the training as important to ensure accurate administration of exams and hiring rules.

Budget math and next steps

Carissa summarized that her amendment requests total about $11,200 across several lines (office supplies, postage, medical exams, part-time clerk, training) and said her 2026 comp budget would still be lower than her 2025 approved budget after those restorations. She asked finance and council to consider the requested increases in the amended budget process.

Ending

Councilors acknowledged the uncertainty tied to retirements and the mechanics of backfilling public-safety positions; several said they would work with HR and civil service to plan for anticipated vacancies and to review the requested amendments during the amended-budget process.