In final budget tweaks, city council agrees to reduce YPD OT, give funds to parks

YOUNGSTOWN — City council decided to move funds out of the Youngstown Police Department's overtime budget during Tuesday's committee meeting.

Weighing police spending vs. park maintenance was among the final considerations before the council meets at 4 p.m. Monday for final city budget approval.

While the city is still working on bottom-line budget totals for 2021, the budget is currently at about $176 million, down from the $182 million budget in 2020. The city is expected to roll a general fund surplus of about $6.5 million into this budget year and will collect about $88.6 million from the $1.9 trillion federal COVID-19 stimulus bill. That is expected to ease some pressure from what was otherwise expected to be a difficult pandemic recovery year.

Because of concerns about overtime in the police department, council members agreed to reduce $250,000 in the police overtime wages budget line item. The change will reduce the police department's overtime budget from $1,150,000 to $900,000.

Council also sought a way to augment the general fund to cover some needs for the parks department.

City parks saw less maintenance last year after departments citywide reduced spending due to cutbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a previous budget meeting, Director of Parks and Recreation Dawn Turnage asked for additional funds to purchase mulch and mowers for maintenance at the parks.

The council also discussed other ways parks could be funded, such as purchasing equipment from other departments or using COVID-19 relief funds.

While city council members were in agreement that the parks needed to be maintained, in a 4-3 decision, members voted to wait to have further council discussions. Councilman Mike Ray, 4th Ward; Councilwoman Lauren McNally, 5th Ward; Councilwoman Anita Davis, 6th Ward; and Councilwoman Basia Adamczak, 7th Ward, all voted with the majority to come back to discuss funding parks in the future.

Councilman Julius Oliver, 1st Ward; Councilman Jimmy Hughes, 2nd Ward; and Councilwoman Samantha Turner, 3rd Ward, all voted in favor of giving the parks department funding now, presumably using funds previously earmarked for YPD overtime.

However, city council members also voted to give the parks department immediate funding to purchase mulch.

The parks department said it needed about $66,412 to purchase mulch for the parks to prepare for summer programs. Finance Director Kyle Miasek said $65,500 would be available to fund the mulch.

This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 4:11 AM with the headline "In final budget tweaks, city council agrees to reduce YPD OT, give funds to parks."