The Wilmington City Council voted 7-6 to pass the operating budget of the city, raising property taxes by 7.5 percent and eliminating 16 firefighting positions.

The fire cuts were the most controversial measure. Firefighters attended the vote with protest signs and muttered "shame" as they walked out of the council chambers.

Members Nnamdi Chukwuocha, Zanthia Oliver, Bud Freel, Ciro Adams, Rysheema Dixon, Loretta Walsh and Hanifa Shabazz voted to pass the budget.

About two-thirds of Wilmington's $150 million budget is personnel costs, Freel said, and "we needed to cut costs."

The mayor's administration said the proposed 29 staffing cuts, all vacant, will in part help avoid a $2 million projected budget deficit for next fiscal year. It will also ease the strain of a projected decrease of $920,000 in the city wage tax next year, a projected increase of $701,000 in overtime costs for police and fire, and a projected $1.2 million increase in employee and retiree health care benefits, the city said.

Members Trippi Congo, Vash Turner, Yolanda McCoy, Bob Williams, Samuel L. Guy and Michelle Harlee voted no.

"The firefighters run to the fire when we run away," Guy said. "(With cuts), the citizens of Wilmington are put at risk, the firefighters at put at risk and the visitors are put at risk."

McCoy, who represents District 6, said the Canby Park fire on Sept. 24 that took the lives of three Wilmington firefighters informed her vote.

"A tragedy happened in my district last year," she said. "We need the Wilmington Fire Department to know we do appreciate you."

John Cawthray, a lieutenant in the Fire Department, was one of the firefighters injured during the Canby Park blaze, walking away with second-degree burns on his wrist and hand. He spoke during the public comment period.

"These are the people that come to your house in a time of need," he said. "How much is my life worth? How much is your life worth? ... You have money, and you’re playing with it."

Williams, a former volunteer firefighter, has consistently opposed the fire cuts and called the budget "an attack on public safety" because it will necessitate the return of rolling bypass, the unpopular practice of shutting down engines on a rotating basis to save on overtime costs.

Williams told his colleagues that if they vote for the budget, they should offer to shut down their district's engine company to prevent a rotation.

"I ask you as a district council person right now to stand up before us and volunteer to give up your engine company," he said. "Don't be a hypocrite. Stand up and say: I would like to see my engine company shut down."

No one stood.

Williams attempted last week to formally urge the city into complying with a city code provision that states a fire academy should be triggered when manning falls below 95 percent. He introduced a resolution in the Public Safety Committee on May 8 to initiate that process, but it was not on the budget on Thursday.

During the tense budget vote meeting, Turner and Guy attempted to refer the budget back to the Finance Committee for further discussion, but that motion was defeated 7-6.

Mayor Mike Purzycki has argued that the Fire Department will be safely staffed at 156. He said the department became inflated by a federal grant in 2012 that rose the authorized strength of the department by 13. He decided to eliminate 16 positions because that number represents an engine company.

In a statement, Purzycki said he is grateful the council worked with his administration to find a "sensible compromise" on the budget.

“The action of the council tonight helps us reach a few goals which include reducing the size and cost of government and allowing for a budget surplus next year to help mitigate projected multimillion-dollar budget deficits through fiscal year 2020," he said. "Most importantly, the administration and council have ensured that the city will continue to provide citizens with the current level of city services while we tackle tougher and costly issues like rising health care and pensions."

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Council President Shabazz said she was proud of the commitment the council, with seven new members, showed in passing the budget by the deadline.

"The mayor sent council a fiscally responsible budget, which resulted in a foundation for making some tough decisions easier," she said.

Purzycki has expressed his hope for a revamping of firefighter work schedules that he said will allow more firefighters to be on hand at any given time. The current schedule, 24 hours on followed by 72 hours off, creates opportunities for excessive overtime.

Firefighters argue the overtime costs stem from city government during the last mayoral administration, which allowed for over a dozen vacancies to occur without filling them. The combination of vacancies and mandatory manning requirements — four people required to run a fire engine — necessitates people getting called into work for overtime during their time off, firefighters say.

The Fire Department is devastated and disappointed in the mayor and the chief, said Kevin Turner, president of the IAFF Local 1590.

"We're pretty much on the brink of morale collapse," he said.

Firefighters are struggling to cope with the deaths of three of their own, Turner said, and individuals have retired at a faster rate than normal.

"This is how the city rewards them," he said.

Turner said he has no doubt that the cuts will have repercussions.

"It's going to have an effect."

Contact Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837 or cjedra@delawareonline.com.