Council questions Division of Water budget increases as city plans lead-service-line work and apprenticeships

Cleveland City Council and the Department of Public Utilities debated the Division of Water’s 2025 operating and capital estimates on Feb. 27, focusing on funding for lead-service-line work, staff augmentation, chemical costs and how the utility uses its cash reserves.

The Division of Water’s unencumbered cash at year-end 2024 was “about a hundred and $70,000,000,” CFO Troy told the committee, and City staff said the five‑year plan anticipates using cash and grants so that the fund ends 2029 with roughly $160 million. Director (Division of Public Utilities) said that decline would be “through capital improvements over those 5 years.”

Council members pressed for details on a roughly $10 million anticipated additional federal lead-removal spending and how the city will ensure quality control by contractors. “We need to make sure that the contractors that we’re hiring to do this work don’t repeat what they did on Brookside anywhere else in the city,” Councilman (name recorded as Chairman in…