Akron's operating budget has been approved by council despite disagreements over increased funding to the police oversight board.
Eleven council members voted in favor of the budget, while Councilmembers Donnie Kammer and Phil Lombardo voted no.
On Monday, city officials proposed a few changes to Mayor Shammas Malik鈥檚 original $785 million proposal, including increasing stipends for Citizens鈥� Police Oversight Board members from $100 to $300 per meeting 鈥� a total of $25,000.
鈥淭his was kind of a compromise,鈥� Finance Director Steve Fricker said in council鈥檚 budget committee meeting Monday. 鈥淚 know there were requests to make that amount $500. Currently, it鈥檚 at $100, so kind of halfway in between there.鈥�
Kammer expressed concerns about police and fire department staffing and said additional funding should have been focused on neighborhood projects. Lombardo wanted the funding for the oversight board to instead go toward police and fire resources.
Other changes proposed, and approved, Monday included adding two housing inspectors in the code compliance division and adding $100,000 to nonprofit Keep Akron Beautiful鈥檚 budget.
Overall, the three changes will add $153,000 to the operating budget, which will be covered by safety services tax funds, rather than the general fund, city spokesperson Stephanie Marsh said.
Some council members praised the changes for the housing department and Keep Akron Beautiful, but several expressed concerns over the increase for CPOB stipends.
Council Vice President Jeff Fusco, who is retiring Tuesday, cautioned other city boards may ask for more funding.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 going to happen is, is the other boards are going to come to us and say, 鈥榊ou gave them a bump, why don鈥檛 you give us a bump?鈥欌�� Fusco said. 鈥淚鈥檓 saying, that鈥檚 not a bad idea, but let鈥檚 鈥� make sure we are aware of what鈥檚 fair.鈥�
Fusco and Councilmember Brad McKitrick both agreed to support the budget despite their concerns.
The stipend increase is needed to help board members review use-of-force cases and make recommendations to the police department, Councilmember Eric Garrett said.
鈥淭hese people are asking for a little bit more money to get the work done because they鈥檙e overloaded,鈥� Garrett said. 鈥淭hese are high-profile cases. They鈥檙e spending tons of time.鈥�
What鈥檚 in the budget?
This year鈥檚 budget is focused on cutting costs and increasing revenue, Malik said in early March.
For instance, the city has proposed significantly cutting back on police and fire overtime.
Earlier this year, the city had already reduced daily overtime fire department shifts from 10 to three, which resulted in $90,000 in savings in two weeks, Malik said.
City officials will continue to monitor this strategy to make sure call response times are not impacted, according to Malik.
鈥淲e want to make sure that call response does not suffer, but also, you know, where we're at with overtime is unsustainable,鈥� Malik said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very open to working with the union to find, you know, adjustments. We recognize that there are specific times when the need for resources is much greater than others.鈥�
The overall reduction in spending is due, in part, to raises negotiated in collective bargaining agreements with police, fire and other city employees last year, Malik said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 forced a lot of hard decisions,鈥� Malik said. 鈥淣ot that there aren't always hard decisions; I just think that they鈥檙e getting harder. We鈥檙e trying to really control costs across the board, aggressively. I think labor is the biggest piece of that.鈥�
In 2025, the city approved 5% raises for police, fire and Civil Service Personnel Association employees. The raises will decrease to 4.5% in 2026 and 2027. Non-bargaining employees received a 3.5% increase last year and will receive 2.5% in 2026.
At the time of the negotiations, Malik and city finance director Steve Fricker cautioned that the proposed wage increases would force cuts in other city departments. Akron drew $10 million from its income tax reserves to help offset the increases, according to Fricker.
Additionally, the city drew from its American Rescue Plan Act allocation in previous budgets, but all ARPA expenditures had to be allocated by last year and will be paid out by the end of 2026.
The city also cut spending last year, citing several uncertainties when proposing the 2025 budget. This year, officials feel better prepared, Malik said.
鈥淲e have, really have spent the last year, since that last budget and since the labor negotiations, continuing to think about all of these pieces,鈥� Malik said. 鈥淚t has raised questions that always have deserved to be answered.鈥�
To save additional labor costs, officials are also planning a new strategy of 鈥渕ission-critical hiring,鈥� Malik said.
In the past, open positions were posted immediately, but that's going to change.
鈥淲e are really going to ask our department directors to really give us the business case for this role, and so this will help us control, through attrition, whether a role is needed,鈥� Malik said.
This new approach will not apply to sworn police officers and firefighters, he said.
Malik and Fricker also highlighted proposed strategies for revenue growth, including bringing back speed cameras in school zones, a program which has been dormant since 2020, Malik said.
Council seeking applications for at-large seat
Akron City Council will hold an election at the end of April to fill a seat left vacant by Fusco, who is retiring after 40 years in public service.
Council approved a resolution Monday establishing a council election on April 27, 2026 to fill Fusco鈥檚 at-large council seat. The term will end in December 2027.
Those interested must apply by April 16.
Fusco was first elected as the council representative for Ward 10, the Goodyear Heights neighborhood, from 1986 to 1993. He successfully ran for an at-large council seat and later became deputy service director under long-time Mayor Don Plusquellic in 1997.
Fusco was famously appointed the city鈥檚 third mayor in two weeks in 2015, when Plusquellic . 10 days later, interim mayor Garry Moneypenny resigned due to inappropriate contact with a city employee, paving the way for Fusco, newly elected council president, to become interim mayor.
He served as mayor for six months, then returned to city council, where he most recently served as council vice president.
On Monday, Councilmember Fran Wilson proposed legislation to establish a screening committee, interviews and a public forum for future council vacancies.
Council鈥檚 rules committee voted to take time to consider Wilson鈥檚 proposed changes at a future meeting.
