The Aurora Firefighters Local 99 Union is calling out the west Chicago suburb’s mayor over his proposed budget, which would cut 18 firefighters from the department.
The union believes it will impact services and put residents’ safety at risk. The mayor responded to those claims saying they’re not true.
Mayor John Laesch admits the process hasn’t been easy to balance the budget. He’s been forced to make cuts and reductions across the board to address a deficit of $30 million dollars in the general fund.
“Some departments took up to a 20% reduction in their budget, or like community services lost a third of their employees and that hasn’t been the case with police and fire,” he said.
The mayor said both departments are facing a budget cut of 4%. The firefighters’ union said the city is looking to eliminate 18 firefighters, three battalion chiefs, one training officer, and two fire trucks. The mayor’s office confirmed those proposed cuts and said it would happen over time.
“We’re reducing any public safety staffing through attrition, which means once somebody retires out we won’t be filling that position,” he said. “So even some of these changes won’t be felt for a long time.”
This comes as the union is negotiating a new contract, and the department is preparing to open a new fire station.
“I wouldn’t make the decision I made if I didn’t feel like we couldn’t handle it,” he said. “It was a long painful process, it’s probably four or five meetings, several phone calls back and forth with AFD leadership to arrive at this decision and process.”
Right now, the city has 253 firefighters on staff. The mayor wants to restore staffing levels to 230.
“The staffing reduction when they actually go through the process are going to be the same levels of 2024 and our response times were impeccable,” he said. “We had very little overtime.”
The mayor said his administration worked hard to make sure the cuts would not impact public safety. He reassured residents that they will not see a reduction in emergency services and response times and said the department stands ready. But the union disagrees.
The union president in a statement issued earlier this week said, “cutting personnel and claiming nothing will change is not leadership, nor is it truthful.”
“It is politics at the expense of public safety,” the statement read. “Local 99 is not opposed to fiscal responsibility; we are opposed to decisions that compromise safety while being presented to the public as harmless.”
The city is hosting a budget town hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the new Public Works Facility. The budget will then be presented to the Committee of the Whole on Dec. 2 for any revisions and changes. The full council will take up a final vote on Dec. 9.
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