New Philadelphia officials crunching numbers as budget deadline nears
NEW PHILADELPHIA – The city is in a budget squeeze.
City Council must approve 2026 appropriations by the end of the month.
Auditor Heather Denham on Monday said there is still significant work to do to balance the budget, as departments’ spending requests are higher than the city’s revenue. She says recent raises are impacting the rest of the budget.
“I said we can’t afford the increases in 2026, unless expenses are majorly cut or you find some other kind of revenue,” she said at Monday’s Council meeting. “I said all along we didn’t have the revenue for this, and in the October and November budgets we got I said, ‘Those are too high, somebody’s got to cut somewhere.’ [I] got revised budgets at the end of last week, and they’re even higher.
“I’ve said since the end of 2024 when I stepped in this position, we don’t have the revenue to support the expenses that are being turned in on budgets.”
Law Director Marvin Fete says if the city does not approve a budget before April 1, it will not be able to pay bills or employees, and the state would take over.
COUNCIL MEMBERS FRUSTRATED WITH ADMINISTRATION
Councilman Kris Kreinbihl said members are frustrated with the administration for not suggesting any budget cuts. He directed some of his comments on Monday to Mayor Joel Day, who was in Washington, D.C.
“This is just absurd what we are put under to pass this budget,” he said. “And I still have not heard one person come up anything to cut expenses. Not one. And here we are March 9, and we’ve got one more meeting scheduled. We’re all going to be in here extra to pass this budget, and I’m at the point where I want to say no unless the administration comes up with something.”
Council member Brian Sears agreed with Kreinbihl. He said Council members have not seen a budget proposal yet. Sears said Denham and city administrators should have worked out the differences between expenses and revenue in December. Instead, he says Council will be asked to approve a budget days before a March 31st deadline.
“I’m never going to understand this budget if you get it to me a week before it’s due. There’s no way you’re going to give me a 100-page budget and I’m going to be able to comprehend that,” he said. “But what else do I do? Do we shut down the city? No, we don’t want to shut down the city. That’s not healthy either.”
Council is scheduled to meet on March 23.