New Somerton budget invests in public safety

The $40+ million budget is helping the fire and police departments add jobs

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - The Somerton City Council just approved a budget of over $40 million dollars.

Both firefighters and police officers are getting 3% raises and both departments are getting money to hire more employees.

The boost comes as the population of Somerton has doubled since 2000.

The fire chief said the budget increase will allow him to increase the number of firefighters on duty from seven to nine.

Adding the pay bump will help keep firefighters for more than just a few years.

“This will help us to retain firefighters as that is one of the major issues the city of Somerton has been having, losing firefighters to bigger agencies with higher pay," Chief Javier Hernandez said.

This year's budget is a nearly $7 million increase from 2022.