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Council hears plan to add six recruit positions for police and fire, one new parks post would be new recurring money
Summary
Staff told council the FY2026 proposal includes four funded police recruit positions and two fire recruit positions (funded using salary savings) plus one new funded parks field superintendent; recruitment strategy aims to shorten time to bring hires into service.
City staff explained the FY2026 budget includes a recruitment strategy that would create six paid recruit positions—four for the police department and two for the fire department—funded using existing salary savings so the change has no net budgetary impact. ‘‘It would allow them to, bridge the gap or shorten the hiring process so that it doesn't take so long to get, those officers, on the road for police or in a fire station,’’ Kaye said when describing the recruitment intent.
Staff confirmed the only new recurring personnel funding requested in the proposed budget is for a parks field superintendent; the four police and two fire recruit positions are already baked into the departments' staffing assumptions and paid from salary savings rather than new general-fund dollars. Staff also said the overall budget is built on full staffing assumptions and that recruiting remains an active priority to address historical vacancies.
