A budget battle is brewing in Traverse City and one of the city's bigger line items, in terms of money spent, is right in the cross hairs. Both the city manager and the mayor have called for cuts to be made to the fire department. As you might imagine that's not sitting well with those who battle blazes. Tonight dozens of fire department supporters marched in front of the governmental center to voice their frustrations over proposed cuts. Union president Mike Onthank said while he understands the need for the city to make its budget, he believes cutting staff members "would jeopardize public safety in a very extreme way."The supporters then took their message inside to have their voices be heard at tonight's city commission meeting. The city is going through its budget process right now. Both the city manager, Ben Bifoss, and mayor, Michael Estes have considered proposals that would cut anywhere from 2 to 8 firefighting positions from the Traverse City Department. The proposals though have raised questions from many in attendance at the meeting. The Mayor admits the cost cutting move could mean jobs lost now, but hopes that by overhauling how the city handles its complete fire service the budget will be saved down the road. He says the city can no longer afford the status quo.
No decisions were made tonight. Commissioners say they will take all of the public comments tonight into consideration. They say decisions could be made about the fire department and the budget in general at their study session on May 4th.
