Akron, like many state and local governments, has used recent federal stimulus windfalls to grow its cash reserves during a pandemic that didn't hurt income tax receipts in the city the way some had feared.
Finance Director Steve Fricker has managed a cash reserve in the general fund that's nearly tripled since 2020. Mayor Dan Horrigan is on pace to leave the next mayor $25 million in a rainy day fund that had just over $3 million when he took office in 2016 and just 89 cents after being drained during the Great Recession more than a decade ago.
Overtime funded today by a one-time federal stimulus, however, will eat into that pot of locally sourced revenue if not left unchecked. There are eight things the fire department is doing to rein in spending and give medics time to recuperate.