Dayton City staff says full‑time police officer and capital needs push 2026 levy above council’s 8% target

Staff presented a draft 2026 budget at a Dayton City Council work session, saying the proposal currently produces a 10.34% levy increase and that converting a part‑time Dayton Police Department officer to full time is the main factor keeping the levy above the council’s roughly 8% target.

The staff member leading the presentation said the draft levy would translate to about $26 a year for a homeowner whose property value did not change and described a set of cuts that lowered the proposal from earlier, larger estimates. “Based on what comments came back from council about getting down to 8%, we are at 10.34%,” the staff member said, noting that nearly every discretionary increase had been removed.

Why it matters: the council has signaled it prefers a significantly lower levy increase than the current draft. Council members sought clear numbers and trade‑off scenarios before deciding whether to proceed with the proposed full‑time officer, to seed additional capital for a ladder truck, or to repurpose existing funds such as unused firefighter allocations.

Staff outlined constraints with state fire relief aid, saying that aid is routed to the relief association for firefighter retirement (PERA) and therefore cannot simply be kept by the city to cover other payroll costs. The staff member illustrated the mechanics with an example: if $100,000 of state aid covers roughly $75,000 of firefighter retirement obligations, the remaining amount affects levy calculations and creates a roughly $25,000 levy impact that must be reconciled when reallocating funds.

Council members and staff also discussed a prior plan to seed a ladder truck fund with $100,000 and a current proposal to add $200,000 toward that vehicle; staff said the $200,000 addition is included in capital equipment increases that contribute to the overall levy figure. One council member framed the budgeting issue as a set of interdependent line items and asked staff to "unbake the cake"—provide the ingredient‑level breakdown showing what each dollar funds.

On personnel, council members raised an HR question: an HR manager position appeared in earlier budget drafts, and some members urged revisiting whether to hire in‑house HR or continue contracted professional services. Staff said an HR manager would cost more than an HR specialist and agreed to provide cost estimates and impact scenarios.

Requests and next steps: council members asked staff to deliver a line‑by‑line spreadsheet covering 2023–2026, show how prior allocations (such as a $100,000 ladder‑truck seed) remain in the plan, and include a short narrative tying spreadsheet lines to policy choices. The staff member said the materials would be provided by the end of the week to allow a fuller discussion at the next scheduled work session on the 26th, when fire department staffing will be a longer topic.

The work session ended without formal motions or votes; staff committed to follow up with the requested breakdowns and scenario modeling.