Denison council adopts FY2026 budget amendment, accepts SAFER grant to add 21 firefighters

The Denison City Council on Monday approved an ordinance amending the city—s fiscal year 2026 budget, including acceptance of a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant that will allow the city to hire 21 additional firefighters.

City staff presented the amended budget package, which included eight adjustments the presenter described as four net-zero reallocations, a SAFER grant-related amendment that reduces fund balance by $190,265, a $25,000 allocation from the hotel-occupancy tax fund to underwrite a shared position between community engagement and tourism, and a $32,000 amendment to the TERS 3 fund to support a downtown maintenance worker. The presenter said the eight amendments total $355,157 across affected funds.

"This amended budget includes a total of 8 amendments," the city presenter said, adding that the SAFER grant "will allow us to hire 21 additional firefighters next year." The presenter also said $298,000 of the amendments affect the general operating fund, with $25,000 to the hotel-occupancy fund and $32,000 to the TERS 3 fund; there were no amendments to the utility operating fund.

Councilman Redwine moved to approve the ordinance amending the City of Denison budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2025, and ending Sept. 30, 2026; Councilmember Thorn seconded. The presiding official called for the vote and the council voted in favor, after which the presiding official declared the ordinance passed.

The ordinance amendment will be incorporated into the city—s FY2026 budget documents; staff indicated the agenda packet contains a detailed breakdown of the amendments and offered to answer follow-up questions. No formal roll-call vote counts were recorded in the transcript.