City’s 2026 budget is dominated by police, fire expenditures

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The Kokomo Common Council currently is considering the 2026 budget proposed by the administration of Mayor Tyler Moore, and for the most part the city is trying to hold the line on spending. As the department heads paraded in front of the council in September to plead the case for their budgets, most of them submitted requests that were the same or only slightly higher than in 2025.

That can’t be said of the Kokomo Police Department and Kokomo Fire Department. Already dominating the city’s annual budget, the two departments came to the table asking for more, with the administration’s blessing.

Both want to increase manpower and to invest in new equipment. The manpower issue has haunted the Moore administration throughout the mayor’s entire tenure in office. Many seasoned officers have retired over the past six years, and several new hires have transferred out to other agencies around the state, particularly to the “donut” counties surrounding Indianapolis.

Because of the difficulty in officer retention, the administration offered large salary increases to both departments as part of union contract negotiations over the past couple of years. But the census hasn’t moved up by much, and the city can’t afford to keep giving raises to compete with Hamilton County.

The problem, Moore explained, is that the city already spends approximately 80 percent of its annual budget on “soft costs” – employee salaries and benefits. That leaves little room for equipment and vehicles.

“We’re not comfortable,” said Moore. “You hate to be too heavy on soft costs. I think part of that is imposing upon the department heads to have the staff in place to best serve and cross-train.

“We have an aging force in every department. If there are efficiencies that can be experienced with positions so that (employees) end up not getting replaced as they retire, that’s the initial plan. But there’s no attrition plan in place currently.”

Moore is also acutely aware of the demands coming from the other side of the negotiating table with AFSCME, the union representing the city’s street, wastewater, and parks workers, as well as bus drivers. They saw the large raises given to the police and fire departments and wanted similar treatment.

That offer wasn’t made by the city. In fact, sources on both sides of the table have disclosed that the city’s initial offer to AFSCME workers was just a four percent raise over three years, as compared to the 25-percent hike received by the police department and similar jump for the firefighters.

The city allegedly told AFSCME that number could jump to as high as 12 percent if the recently proposed $10 trash fee is approved.

“A pat on the back or a shout out in the public arena only goes so far when they’re still trying to make ends meet,” said Moore of the AFSCME workers. “There’s no plan in place now to deal with those soft costs. We want to be able to try and meet their needs and wants as best we can, while still working with the department’s hard costs (equipment).”

The police department sat at 77 sworn officers on the job when Assistant Chief Brian Seldon spoke to the council on Sept. 3. Just two days later, the department hired three additional officers, and Seldon disclosed that they hope to hire four more before the end of 2025.

“Our recruiting efforts have progressed,” said Seldon. “We get a lot of individuals from surrounding counties, transfers, laterals, that want to come here because of our recruiting efforts, and we’re doing that via social media.”

The police department asked the council to consider investing in technology for the officers. This includes the development of a drone program, an enhancement for officer bodycams, and a real-time crime center. To counter these expenditures, the department is requesting no additional vehicles in 2026.

“(Chief Doug Stout) has done a great job taking advantage of the funds that he’s had,” said Moore. “He’s gotten to a point now that they’re in a good position with their fleet now that they can suspend new purchases. We don’t want to do that long term. We’re just pausing with what we’ve got.”

The police department already employs drones as part of its enforcement effort, but it is asking for additional appropriations to purchase equipment.

“We’re looking at implementing or purchasing possibly four more drones added to our fleet that we have now,” said Seldon. “We’d like to have every drone pilot to have equipment.”

Body camera technology is advancing rapidly, Seldon explained. As such, the department would like to invest in new cameras that not only record what an officer experiences, but also automatically transcribe everything they hear. And the technology can translate as many as 50 different languages.

The real-time crime center, as Seldon explained it, is a monitoring effort where any city-installed camera in the community can be accessed from a central location.

“We have cameras within the city on our trails,” said Seldon. “Basically, we include all those cameras into one system that we can view here at the police department. Like our body cameras, we can watch officers on scene in real time and communicate with them.”

For the fire department, the request for increased funding was devoted to equipment and facilities. Deputy Chief Steve Stackhouse led the presentation to the council, asking for additional funds to remodel downtown’s Fire Station No. 1.

In terms of vehicles, the fire department is prepared to reap the rewards from past city budgets. A rescue truck should arrive next September, and the city’s Board of Works and Public Safety approved a new engine on Sept. 3, which should arrive sometime in 2028.

Stackhouse explained that no money has been committed to the engine yet, and the city has until its arrival to figure out how to pay for it. With a price tag of $910,000, that calculus won’t be an easy one. A similar engine purchased by the city in 2024 cost just $666,000, he said.

“That’s how much the price went up for the same truck,” said Stackhouse. “And these are stock trucks; nothing fancy.”

Fire Chief Paul Edwards explained that the purchases align with the department’s apparatus replacement plan, which has included the purchase of a rescue truck and a ladder truck recently.

Moore acknowledged the need for new equipment and was appreciative of his staff for trying to adjust the budget to allow for equipment expenditures.

“We’re using a more intentional rotation on equipment, primarily in the fire department and street department,” said Moore. “I know one of the big-ticket items in the fire department budget is the next aerial truck that is replacing an aging one. And there is a need for some additional trash trucks at the street department.

“Finding ways to do that within the proposed numbers is a challenge. Kudos to our department heads for trying to find ways to get some of these needs met within the numbers so that we didn’t have to increase the budget too much.”

The fire department is also looking to increase its headcount. With 95 officers currently working, Stackhouse explained that eight of those are administrative staff. It takes a minimum of 21 firefighters each day to man the department’s in-service vehicles. And with the time off requirements the city must provide to the officers, Stackhouse contended that the department is three officers short every day, resulting in about $3,000 a week in overtime.

“They’re getting tired,” said Stackhouse. “We have done something that I’ve never seen in 27 years. We are now forcing people to come in on overtime. We’ve never had mandatory overtime before, but we will not shut down a fire truck. That won’t happen.”

The city already funds salaries for officers to be hired, but the fire department has had trouble finding and retaining firefighters. Stackhouse contended that a large reason for that is the pay difference between Kokomo and fire departments in Hamilton County.

The difference becomes more acute when it comes to establishing pension rates for the officers. All it takes is three years of service, and a firefighter’s pension raises to the level of compensation offered by the richer department. Stackhouse said Kokomo is losing officers to this system as they finish out their careers, as Carmel’s pension base is $117,000 per year.

Still, Edwards explained that the department is actively recruiting, hoping to find firefighters who prioritize this community. His efforts are taking place this month, as he recently held a recruitment drive at the Carver Community Center.

“I’m going to reach out to local, homegrown talent that hopefully wants to stay,” said Edwards.

Moore agrees that the staffing problem needs to be fixed, but the budget as it stands can’t do it. The proposed trash fee is a first step, which likely will be followed in 2026 by the passage of a 2.9 percent local option income tax adopted jointly by the City of Kokomo and Howard County government.

Should those tax increases come into play, Moore sees a chance to increase headcount at the fire department.

“Maybe this is something that comes with the proposed income tax that is being discussed,” said Moore. “We’d love to be able to continue to grow the fire department. As the community grows, the six stations do an outstanding job with both fire and EMS services.

“But we’re looking at a new Station No. 3 being the next capital project. We need to give them a new home, either on the existing location or somewhere close by. And there is a potential need for a seventh station because the way the community is growing.

“But we can’t just do it. Those are millions of dollars. Not only do you build the station, you’ve got to staff the trucks, and we’re having a hard time getting bodies on the trucks.”

The Kokomo Common Council next meets on Mon., Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. in their chambers within City Hall. The budget must be approved and submitted to the State of Indiana by the end of October.