Lebanon City unveils $18.10M 2026 budget with one firefighter added, ARPA funds to finish projects

Lebanon City’s mayor presented a $18,099,057 proposed budget for 2026 at a second public hearing, highlighting an addition of one career ‘‘floater’’ firefighter, conversion of a part-time housing inspector to full time, targeted park projects including a splash pad at Southwest Park, and continued use of ARPA and grant funding to finish multi-year quality-of-life projects. The mayor said the plan would be balanced using approximately $2,863,704 in excess carryover and that no property-tax increase is proposed.

The mayor told the council the proposed Bureau of Fire budget totals $3,878,921, a roughly $254,931 increase from 2025, reflecting additions to staffing, benefits and operating costs. ‘‘We are going to increase their stipend due to the number of hours they commit,’’ the mayor said of two volunteer assistant chiefs, noting the stipend change represents about an extra $1,000 in the 2026 budget. The mayor also proposed adding ‘‘an additional career firefighter, as a floater to assist with shift coverage’’ to reduce overtime and improve shift…