City administrator advises against millage cut or adding five police positions now; commissioners weigh priorities

City Administrator Faye Johnson on Aug. 11 told commissioners that the proposed FY26 budget cannot accommodate both a millage reduction and the addition of five extra police positions without offsetting reductions elsewhere, and that she does not recommend pursuing either change before the budget is balanced.

Johnson said the proposed budget already includes money to hire sworn officers (the proposed general-fund budget included funding for 25 police officers and two sergeants; the police department requested funding for 30 officers). She warned that a midprocess directive to reduce the millage rate or add roughly $1.2 million for five officers would force staff into rapid, high-effort rebalancing during a tight two-and-a-half-week window before the first hearing.