Many open City of Akron jobs may not be filled as fast as they once were, if ever. The city may clamp down on overtime shifts for firefighters and police officers. Akron drivers may again face automated traffic cameras and potentially costly speeding tickets.
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik’s office on Monday proposed the smallest of the three annual operating budgets under his tenure as the city attempts to navigate lower-than-expected income tax revenue from last year, significantly higher police and firefighters’ wages and an end to the millions of dollars of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding intended to keep local governments afloat in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s not a challenge that happened overnight, and it’s not a challenge that we are going to get out of overnight,” Malik said in a meeting with reporters on Monday about the budgetary balancing act on a thinning tightrope.
Malik’s proposed $784.8 million operating budget for 2026 is $13.8 million smaller than the budget that Akron City Council approved last year. It’s also $30.2 million smaller than the first budget the mayor pushed through shortly after coming into office two years ago. The budget will likely be smaller next year, too, the mayor’s office said on Monday.
Operating budgets cover the day-to-day costs of operating a government, such as salaries for city workers and administrative costs, while capital budgets cover infrastructure and long-term projects. Akron City Council approved the city’s $341.9 million capital budget last month and will vote on the proposed operating budget by the end of March.
More than one-third of this year’s operating costs is tied to salaries and other compensation for nearly 2,000 city workers who make, on average, a base wage of $77,717. In 2025, the city signed new labor contracts with unions representing the city’s firefighters and police officers, bumping up salaries for nearly 900 employees by 4.5%.
“Last year there was really a lot of uncertainty” in staffing levels because of ongoing union negotiations, Director of Finance Steve Fricker told reporters on Monday. With those contracts now signed, the city needs to move the pieces around to actually pay for them.
The mayor’s office budget proposal says that the city will keep replacing exiting firefighters and police officers as much as possible, but, “moving forward, vacant positions will not be filled unless demonstrated to be mission-critical for City operations.” The document states that 35 previously filled full-time jobs in the city have been cut, saving $3.5 million, and more are likely.
While the city significantly increased police and firefighter wages, lucrative overtime opportunities may be a casualty. The mayor’s budget document says it has already limited overtime for firefighters, claiming that the city saved more than $90,000 in two weeks by limiting the department to three daily overtime shifts (down from 10) without hindering response times.
“Where we’re at with overtime is unsustainable,” Malik said. “This year and next year we need to right size.”
City representatives will be pitching department budgets to Akron City Council during hearings inside City Hall and live streamed on YouTube at 3 p.m. next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Malik’s administration will host a presentation for Akron residents on the mayor’s Facebook Live page on Friday, March 20, at 12:30 p.m. The city will also host an in-person Budget Town Hall at the Akron Summit County Public Library downtown at 60 S. High St. on Tuesday, March 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.