Portage officials say they're getting the city's finances back on track with the 2023 budget. The budget adopted by the city council last week totals just over $66.1 million dollars, including a general fund of $24 million.
Deb Podgorski chairs the council's budget committee. "I believe this is the best-yet budget for this administration since we started, keeping in mind that we had less than $12,000 to work with when we took seat," Podgorski said during last week's meeting.
She said the 2023 budget includes funding for four new police officers and three new staff members for the fire department to fully staff a third ambulance. Funding is also set aside for sidewalk, streetlight and traffic light replacement.
Mayor Sue Lynch commended city officials for working together on the budget, which she said didn't always happen when she was on the city council. "We knew coming in this was going to be a tough fight. We knew it was going to take two to three years. I think we're approaching that now, and I'm really ecstatic at how far we've come from where we were," Lynch said.
Council members delayed voting on the budget by a week, but made no apparent changes. Meanwhile, Lynch said Portage elected officials have once again decided not to give themselves a pay raise in the 2023 salary ordinance. The mayor will continue to make more than $83,000 next year, while the clerk-treasurer will get over $77,000.