LIMA, OH (WLIO) - On the second day of hearings, three major departments proposed their 2024 budgets to the Lima City Council Finance Committee.
Council heard from the fire department, police department, and public works about their expected expenses for this year, their projects and successes of last year, and what major purchases could be coming in the next several years.
The LPD is looking to hire more officers with their new wage increase was approved. They also plan to spend more time at community events, and issue more citations for quality of life issues like loud music in neighborhoods. The Lima Fire Department is also looking for funding for a new, large, multi-year project.
"We're looking to build a new station and we're starting that process. We haven't built a new station since 1975, that was central fire. It's still a very good building but there's a lot of advancements in fire technology and the development of buildings so we're looking now," said Chief Andy Heffner.
The Public Works Department has a need for more employees to manage new park areas like the amphitheater downtown and the upcoming city pool, as well as funding for new and ongoing projects.
"We've got the Schoonover Observatory project that's underway, we've got additional demos that we need to complete throughout the city for blight removal. Public Works does quite a wide range of things, parks, engineering, building department, and streets," explained Kirk Niemeyer, the director of Public Works.
Both the police and fire departments say that the rising cost of vehicles and repairs means it's necessary to both spend more money in those areas, and make vehicle purchases sooner than usual because of low inventory.
