City Manager Tim Thomure has put forward a $2.5 billion budget proposal that keeps bus and streetcar service free and avoids closing any fire stations. The plan aims to maintain these core services while addressing broader fiscal needs across the city.
To help balance the books, the proposal includes higher fees in several departments, including development services, environmental services and parks and recreation. Specific amounts for those increases have not been finalized, but officials estimate the changes could generate more than $2 million in additional revenue.
The budget relies in part on delaying new hires in many departments to control costs, although hiring within the police department is being treated as a priority. The proposal also sets aside funds intended for employee pay increases.
Thomure is scheduled to present the plan to the City Council at a study session on Tuesday. Councilmembers are expected to review the proposal and may make adjustments before formally adopting a final budget in the coming weeks.
The draft trims about $12 million from the city’s operating budget even as total revenue is projected to be roughly $53 million higher than last fiscal year. City leaders caution, however, that the numbers are provisional and could shift depending on federal and state allocations and broader economic trends.
Public transit has been fare-free since 2020; after federal COVID-related funding ended, the city absorbed the ongoing costs to maintain that policy. Earlier considerations to close two fire stations—one near the university and another on the east side—are not part of Thomure’s current budget proposal, which preserves current station operations.
