CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — With only days left in the year, Cleveland Heights City Council scrambled to finalize a temporary three-month budget for the first quarter of 2025. The measure was deemed essential to ensure city operations continued uninterrupted, employees were paid on time, and essential services remained available to residents.
The urgency came amid a tumultuous year in which council operated without a permanent financial director. The vacancy created significant challenges in managing the city's finances, delaying the budget process and leaving many details unresolved.
During a special three-hour committee meeting Wednesday, councilmembers expressed their frustration, highlighting what they called a lack of preparation and leadership that led to the last-minute scramble.
"It is not our fault that we are here," Councilman Craig Cobb said. "It is not our fault that we are having to use pen and paper to put together a budget that I believe city staff could have done very easily when it became apparent that we were not going to pass a final budget for this year."
Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren's office presented its proposed 2025 budget in November. However, councilmembers, — including President Tony Cuda — raised concerns about missing critical information.
"We didn't include a report about salary increases for next year for a union that's going to be negotiated with, or a salary study that is due this month that we know is going to recommend increases in salaries," Cuda told 3News. "The budget, as it stands now, is almost $1 million over budget without a capital budget."
Seren defended his administration's efforts, stating they had gone above and beyond in providing detailed financial information to assist the council.
"We've provided certainly more information than we have in the previous 10 years to the council in making their budgetary decisions," Seren said in an interview. "But inexplicably, council decided that they were going to summarily vote the budget down."
The absence of a permanent financial director loomed over the discussions, with legislators admitting it contributed to their struggles in finalizing the budget.
"We need someone that has some experience in this building, that understands, 'You are understaffed and you need more resources, and someone needs to bring someone on immediately to give you some help,'" Councilman Jim Posch affirmed.
Councilmembers also voiced concerns about potential long-term implications of relying on a temporary budget, including delays in capital projects and uncertainty for city departments.
Council was expected to vote Thursday on the proposed temporary three-month budget, which members said was likely to pass. If approved, it would buy the city time to finalize a comprehensive budget for 2025 while maintaining essential services