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Fire chief: budget reductions trim operations but leave long-term capital gap for stations and apparatus
Summary
Fire Chief Randy Royal said the 2026 proposal trims non‑labor spending and transfers fleet/facilities out of Fire, but the department still needs 2–4 new stations and additional apparatus and staff over coming years; he identified a multi‑year funding gap for capital and staffing.
Randy Royal, Fire Chief for the City of Colorado Springs, outlined the Fire Department’s 2026 budget priorities and the tradeoffs administrators made to achieve reductions.
Royal said the department’s total 2026 budget is roughly $109 million, and that labor (salary and benefits) comprises the large majority of that total. He described transfers of fleet and facilities functions out of Fire to city fleet and a reduction of about 10 filled positions tied to those moves plus rifts and vacancies. Non‑labor operational budgets were cut substantially (a 28–43% drop in some lines) to…
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