Yuma City Council approves $224 million preliminary budget

Yuma City Council approved the preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal year during a meeting Wednesday.

The budget, excluding the Yuma Visitors Bureau, is $224,696,487, according to the City of Yuma.

The budget includes pay increases for first responders, a capital improvement budget of $41,909,592 and cuts to several city departments.

City administrator Jay Simonton presented what those one percent overall cuts to each department look like.

The fire department will see a total cut of $1,132,391, while the police department will see a cut of $534,802. However, Interim City Administrator Simonton said the departments all said it will not affect operations negatively.

Residents could also see higher property taxes as a result of the preliminary budget.

As News 11 reported, rates will go from 2.2747 percent to 2.3185 percent, if the budget is passed.

The council will finalize and place a final vote the budget in the coming weeks.