Time is running out for Erie City Council to pass next year’s budget, as they only have five more days to finalize it.
Last week, the city council asked Mayor Joe Schember to cut $2 million from the budget. Now, Mayor Joe Schember is proposing an $800,000 cut.
On Tuesday, Erie City Council will meet again to finalize the 2023 budget.
At Wednesday night’s city council meeting, council members Michael Keys, Jasmine Flores, and Mel Witherspoon supported a resolution created by councilman Ed Brezinski. The resolution calls for the Schember Administration to find a way to cut money from the budget.
“They wanted $2 million but that’s just not possible. We’ll certainly listen if they want to make any suggestions at the meeting, but we think what we’ve done is good. We think there’s a good possibility come the fall of next year. We’ll have to go back to them and have them make some adjustments,” said Mayor Joe Schember, City of Erie.
Mayor Schember added that after reviewing the budget he was able to cut $800,000.
Councilman Chuck Nelson said he’s not sure if the council will be satisfied with these cuts.
“The second round of cuts were done entirely from the police budget. There was a number of positions that the mayor added last year that hadn’t been filled yet, and moving forward, it looks like we’re not going to be filling some of those. Some retirees from the brass are not going to be promoted at the same rate,” said Councilman Chuck Nelson.
Councilman Ed Brzezinski said he hopes they can find other places to cut from that don’t involve the Erie Police Department.
“There are new jobs in the budget, and that’s what I’m looking at. I don’t want to hurt anybody as far as jobs go, but you can’t hurt somebody that’s not hired yet. So take it out of the budget until we find a better way to pay for it,” said Brzezinski.
The council will meet in city hall chambers Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. hoping to finalize the budget.
