Brook Park council passes three emergency finance measures on Dec. 2

Brook Park City Council on Tuesday suspended its rules and passed three emergency measures affecting city operations and finances.

The council adopted an ordinance (Ordinance 11510-2025) amending parts of the city administrative code to provide pay adjustments for non-elected city employees. Councilman Scott, who introduced the measure in finance committee, said the ordinance updates the salary schedule for 2025, including a new minimum hourly rate of $11 and selective increases for some department heads and positions. "The 1 significant change you'll see... is on the new 2025 minimum, you'll see that minimum wage is changed to $11 an hour," Scott said.

Council also approved a temporary-appropriations ordinance to maintain city operations through March 31, 2026. Finance Director Robert McGahn told council the temporary appropriation equals roughly 25% of the projected budget and noted there is little capital spending in the three-month plan aside from a previously committed lease of $51,161.19. "The amounts equal approximately 25% of our projected budget," McGahn said.

Finally, the council adopted a resolution authorizing the mayor to request that the county fiscal officer advance property-tax revenues under Section 321.34 of the Ohio Revised Code so the city can receive scheduled advances in January, February and July rather than waiting until full collections in March and August. McGahn said the county requires the resolution for the advance schedule.

All three items were passed on the suspension of the rules after roll-call votes recorded by the clerk. The council placed the salary ordinance and the temporary-appropriations measure on the agenda earlier in the meeting and then moved to adopt them under an emergency declaration.

The temporary-appropriations ordinance will keep city departments funded while staff complete the permanent 2026 budget; the finance director said the full budget work will continue in the coming weeks.