Kansas City, Missouri officials have made their first public comments on the proposed city budget for next year, including the proposed one-year wage freeze.
With a 3.5 percent spending increase in the plan and millions more for the fire department, some are asking why there won't be employee raises.
City Manager Troy Schulte said it comes down to dollars and cents: raises vs. jobs.
“If you do a 2 percent raise, that’s $5.4 million," said Schulte, "and that would have probably meant another hundred people. And I'm beginning to argue: this organization is getting pretty thin. We're getting pretty lean.”
Schulte said for example, Austin, Texas has 16,000 employees counting police. Kansas City has 7,000. And the proposed budget calls for the elimination of 25 currently filled positions.
The first public hearing on the budget will be held at 9 a.m. Feb. 21 at the police academy.