TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Fire Chief Allison Armstrong says her department needs new vehicles.
"Our vehicles are very, very expensive," said Armstrong.
Currently, the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department has 40 front-line vehicles, like ambulances and trucks, but replacing them is a slow and costly process.
"I wish we had more funding allocated to more vehicles and only because it's taking so long," Armstrong said to city council's public safety committee at a meeting on Monday to present next year's budget proposal.
TFRD's request for $600,000, as part of the fire and police departments' 2025 budget proposals, is a start, she says.
"Since COVID, you heard (Toledo Police) Chief (Michael) Troendle say it also, it is very, very difficult to get vehicles," Armstrong said.
Troendle says the Toledo Police Department is facing similar issues with rising costs. TPD's fleet of vehicles, including about 125 marked patrol cars, is getting old, which is why he says the department is asking for $500,000 for new vehicles.
"Ford Explorers, that's where we're currently using," Troendle said. "We found that it is a good model of vehicle for our officers that allows for enough space, all-wheel drive for our weather and it kind of continues to hold up for us."
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz recently told WTOL 11 that the city's proposed budget of $365 million for next year would dedicate $21 million to vehicles and equipment for TFRD and TPD, and $230 million to public safety.
In terms of department budgets, both expect to be higher than the previous.
So far this year, TFRD is sitting at around $81 million, with a projection of about $94 million next year. TPD went from about $92 million in 2024 to a projected $106 million in 2025.
Armstrong and Troendle both also have concerns about staffing next year.
The fire department currently has 593 firefighters, according to Armstrong, the highest number she's had since becoming chief in 2022. However, she expects the department to have 38 retirements next year and an incoming class of only 20 new recruits.
Troendle says the police department will have 617 sworn officers at the start of the new year, still 83 shy of Kapszukiewicz's goal of having 700, a promise made during his 2021 campaign. However, Troendle did say the department will welcome a class of 30 new officers, after selecting from a pool of 118 candidates.
But even with another potential budget increase, Toledo City Council member John Hobbs III says both departments' requests are reasonable.
"I don't see anything as being overly exaggerated, as to the point of 'they are just asking for it just because,'" Hobbs said. "I think they are asking for things that are needed and what we need to do as a council, what our mayor and administration has to, is to try and come to a happy medium."