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Flint city council adds budget money to prevent firefighter layoffs, but mayor may veto

(file photo)
Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Radio
(file photo)
(file photo)
Credit Steve Carmody / Michigan Radio
/
Michigan Radio
(file photo)

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver could soon use her veto pen to strike down some changes the city council approved to the city budget on Monday night.

The city council tacked on a few amendments to the spending plan, including adding $1.7 million to the fire department budget.

The added money is intended to avoid deep cuts to the department and layoffs.   

The budget amendment puts the mayor in a difficult position.

“The bottom line is, we want public safety to be our priority and we also have to make sure that we’re being fiscally responsible,” Weaver told reporters before the council made the changes to the budget.

The mayor says her office is working on ways to avoid laying off firefighters.

Council President Herbert Winfrey is hopeful the mayor will be open to the added money.

“She’s going to be talking with the finance department and seeing what sense it makes,” says Winfrey. “And then she’ll base her decision on vetoing it or approving it based on those numbers.”

Some Flint city officials are wary of tapping the city’s cash reserves to pay for current staff, with retiree costs expected to jump in the next couple of years.   

Councilwoman Kate Fields says some council members are being “irresponsible” by saying the city can use money from the city’s cash reserves.

“We have pension liabilities that are coming up in the next couple of years, and if you don’t meet those liabilities, you’re out of business,” says Fields. 

About a half dozen Flint firefighterssat listening to the city council debate adding the money to keep them on the payroll. 

Flint Fire Chief Raymond Barton is concerned his firemen may get their hopes up based on Monday night’s city council vote.

“We could still come back a month from now and lay people off,” says Barton. 

City officials are optimistic, even if the mayor strips the added money for firefighters now, a solution can be found after the new fiscal year begins July 1st

Copyright 2019 Michigan Radio

Steve Carmody has been a reporter for Michigan Radio since 2005. Steve previously worked at public radio and television stations in Florida, Oklahoma and Kentucky, and also has extensive experience in commercial broadcasting. During his two and a half decades in broadcasting, Steve has won numerous awards, including accolades from the Associated Press and Radio and Television News Directors Association. Away from the broadcast booth, Steve is an avid reader and movie fanatic. Q&A