PEORIA, Ill. — After hours of discussion in previous weeks that led up to Tuesday night’s special meeting, the Peoria City Council has voted 6-5 to decommission two fire engines and borrow $10 million in working cash bonds to balance the fiscal year 2021 budget.
The city’s budget has been left unbalanced due to effects felt from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created many shortfalls within the city’s budget.
After voting no on the motion to decommission two engines last Tuesday, council member Denis Cyr was the one to motion Tuesday night to decommission the engines.
“I feel I was put in a box last week, and I didn’t react very well,” said Cyr.
Cyr added that he did not want to raise property taxes within the city, saying that he ran on not increasing taxes during his campaign.
Among the dissenting voices, council member Chuck Grayeb said that public safety was number one in his mind.
“We can choose to respond intelligently; keep our people here; preserve our real estate values; and ensure that, first and foremost, when we go to bed at night that our citizens are as safe as we can possibly make it,” said Grayeb.
Grayeb also reminded his fellow council members after the vote that they can vote to reconsider at the next meeting.
Fire Chief Anthony Ardis said the two machines that would have to be decommissioned would be engine four on Jefferson and engine 20 on Wilhelm.
Council member Elizabeth Jensen, who voted no, voiced her opinion that too many fire positions had been cut in recent years which made her hesitant to continue adding to it.
The motion that passed Tuesday night was the same motion that failed last Tuesday. This time Cyr voted yes, changing the vote from a no 6-5 to a yes 6-5.
With the uncertainty surrounding federal aid in the coming months, council member Zach Oyler motioned to freeze all capital operations for the rest of the year, which passed unanimously.
