Federalizing the Budget Busters
Left week I published a break down of Buffalo’s budget in response to rookie mayor Ryan proposed 25% property tax increase. In that budget break down we see where the city’s revenue flows and for what purposes. According to Chat GPT Buffalo’s 2024 budget General Fund had a 576–580-million-dollar to operate the cities day-to-day basic services.
The biggest piece of the pie goes to public safety—Police and Fire Departments. The Buffalo Police Department was budgeted for 100–106 million dollars, Buffalo Fire Department $70–73 million dollars annually. That approximately 35% of the total budget. I know a little about civil service salaries and compensations and just how sweet they can be for the recipients and how detrimental it is to the finances of a city.
As a young firefighter that worked with crews of “old timers.” One of the first thing I learned was most of the OGs on the department had a “second front,” which is a second job or side hustle, to make ends meet. That was because civil service jobs back in the day didn’t pay a lot compared to what the factories and plants paid at that time. Today a medium level firefighter earns 85 thousand a year, enough for a good middle class living on one job if they choose.
My point is back in the day Civil Service jobs and pay were not enough to sustain a middle-class income the way it is today. When I joined the BFD in 1983, I took a $2000 pay cut from being a Job councilor to join the department with the starting salary of $15,337, which is about $50,000 in 2026. Today an entry level firefighter is paid around 60 thousand dollars a year and can go up to over 100 thousand a year for officers.
I’m trying to make a point the cost of operating a city is getting too high and it cannot be sustained without dramatic changes to state laws and federal taxes and labor concessions. I believe Police and Fire should be made tax exempt allowing workers to receive their full salaries Police and Fire should be categized as civil defense workers and subsidized by the Department of Defense that has a trillion-dollar budget.
When something big erupts in this nation it will be Police and Fire that will be first called upon called to sacrifice. I know that sounds like crazy talk, but it is plain the cities are going to be broke one of these days and nobody will get paid. And nobody will come. Just Sayin.