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DPW lays out FY27 budget and warns of snow, staffing and enforcement limits; parking vendor contract draws scrutiny
Summary
Public Works director presented a $15.6 million FY27 proposal driven by contractual wage increases and detailed staffing and procurement issues; councillors pressed on engineering capacity, faded street markings, illegal dumping, snow operations, fleet oversight, surveillance cameras, and the parking-meter contract that expires in June 2027.
Jorge Himer, director of the Department of Public Works, told the Budget & Finance Committee that the DPW’s proposed FY27 budget totals $15,612,349, an increase of roughly 2.1% compared with the prior year driven primarily by contractual personal-service costs.
Himer introduced his management team and walked councillors through administrative transfers, engineering and street-maintenance accounts, and new or reclassified positions. Several councillors pressed the director about a persistent lack of a fully credentialed city engineer (PE level) and urged investment in traffic engineering and drafting capacity so more projects can be performed in-house. Himer said the city has been recruiting but can’t match private-market salaries without bargaining and structural changes.
Street-marking and pavement concerns dominated public questions: councillors reported faded crosswalks and double-yellow lines and said constituents perceived geographic disparities in work. Himer responded that painting activity and procurements have increased and that visible clustering can result from multi-year procurement timelines and available funding.
Sanitation and illegal-dumping inquiries prompted calls for more cameras and enforcement. DPW said cleanup costs drain operating resources; it recommended coordinated camera deployment and citation authority (inspectional services and police handle permitting and enforcement), and noted capital funds are typically the source for camera purchases.
Snow and ice operations were flagged as at-risk: the department’s budget for snow/ice is level-funded at $500,000, but Himer and councillors warned that actual winter costs can far exceed appropriations when prolonged storms and parked vehicles restrict plowing. The director recommended larger salt-storage capacity and emphasized limits to operational performance when cars block streets.
Parking operations and the private meter/management contract drew sustained scrutiny. DPW reported approximately $1.2 million in annual meter revenues and ticket revenues close to $800,000 in the recent winter period. Councillors expressed frustration with vendor responsiveness over holiday-meter behavior, questioned the social impact of meter placement in residential neighborhoods, and noted the contract expires in June 2027; they signaled a desire for stronger data transparency and revised contract terms when the city reprocures services.
The committee completed DPW questions and will include the department’s materials in the FY27 packet sent to the full council.
