Fire Chief Ryan, speaking at the city's Aug. 7 public hearing, urged support for the proposed tax increase to maintain and improve emergency response and staffing.

Ryan said the city began staffing the fire station with three people around the clock on Jan. 1, 2025, to reduce ambulance response times, and described operational limits caused by reliance on part-time and volunteer personnel. "Volunteerism is dead," he said, and described difficulty retaining part-time personnel when regional agencies pay higher wages. He said the city currently has one full-time firefighter (himself) and that proposed revenue would fund additional full-time positions for fire and police and part-time positions for the library.

Ryan offered a personal example in support of 24/7 staffing, describing a medical emergency that, he said, likely resulted in a better outcome because multiple fully staffed units were available. He also described how the Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating affects local insurance costs and business recruitment and said higher staffing can lower the ISO rating, which benefits residents and businesses.

When asked how much revenue a proposed 8% increase would raise, Ryan said, as recorded in the meeting, an amount he gave as "$100,164,000 dollars" and then clarified that the increase would fund roughly half of a full-time firefighter position, with additional funds allocated to police and library staffing. The council recorded that some of the proposed revenue would be used to move part-time positions toward more stable, competitive pay to retain staff.

No explicit salary schedules or binding staffing commitments were adopted at the meeting; the council adopted the city's budget that includes funding priorities staff presented in budget discussions. Chief Ryan invited residents to meet with him and review call-response data and staffing plans.

The council accepted public-safety testimony as part of the public hearing record and then adopted the certified tax rate and final budget in roll-call votes.