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Police and fire chiefs outline staffing, overtime and health‑screening requests in 2026 budget pitch
Summary
Police and fire leaders described level‑funded operating budgets with added costs from collective bargaining, overtime pressure from long‑term leaves and deployments, recruitment challenges, and new voluntary medical screenings for first responders.
Police and fire chiefs outlined budgetary pressures for fiscal 2026 at the Methuen budget workshop, highlighting overtime driven by long‑term medical leaves and military activations, recruitment and retention challenges, and new health and professionalization priorities.
The police chief presented a level‑funded budget that nevertheless reflects higher personnel costs from recently settled collective bargaining agreements. He described requests that were not funded in the mayor's proposal, including…
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