Salem would add four police officers, keep a new fire department crisis team and continue expanded homeless camp clean-ups and outreach under the city’s $816 million budget proposal.  Salem City Manager Krishna Namburi unveiled her budget recommendation on Friday, April 10.  Namburi strike s a generally positive tone, but foreshadows higher utility bills to maintain Salem’s sewer, water and stormwater systems. It’s the first time in several years that city councilors won’t be contemplating deep cuts to city services. Those were averted when Salem voters in 2025 agreed to a property tax increase to pay for library, parks and Center 50+ operations. Namburi’s plan calls for two new police officers stationed downtown to focus on community policing beginning in January 2027. Those jobs would be paid for through revenue from downtown parking meters. Paid parking, which began in July 2025, has proven lucrative for the city, surpassing expectations by generating about $1.2 million in the first six months. Two additional new officers would be assigned to investigate drug trafficking and violent crime as part of a one-year city pilot to improve services to address substance abuse.  The proposal comes after business leaders for months have been pushing city officials to do more to improve safety and livability downtown. Namburi framed her plan as investing in community priorities while continuing to spend public dollars wisely and seeking more efficiency.  “We will continue to evaluate expenditures, align resources with council and community priorities, and ensure that new investments are sustainable over the long term,” Namburi wrote in her budget message. The city’s general fund, which pays for police, fire and other core city services, projects spending $197.4 million while bringing in $185.4 million. Total spending would increase about $31 million over the current budget, including a $12 million general fund increase.  City officials said the increase in part is because of pay raises and increases for health insurance and employee pensions. The budget reflects a city strategy testing new services before committing permanent funding. The downtown police expansion is described as a one-year pilot.  Namburi’s plan would continue the fire department’s REACH team, which responds to people in crisis, at a cost of about $510,000. That doesn’t include the cost of a mental health worker paid for by Marion County. The program was set up as a six-month pilot in January to handle calls in downtown Salem and recently expanded to northeast Salem. The budget would also continue the expansion of two city teams that respond to homeless camps — the police department’s Homeless Services Team and the civilian Salem Clean Team. City councilors voted in October to expand both teams so they could work seven days per week. The budget proposal would add two positions to the Clean Team at a cost of $287,000. The police positions would cost $381,480, paid from Salem’s share of settlement money from opioid manufacturers. The city’s expansion of police, cleaning crews and homeless outreach was possible because of the property taxes voters approved. That diverted to a dedicated fund some costs for community services. Such actions left more general fund money for public safety services. The levy has brought in $13.7 million through March 2026, Assistant City Manager Courtney Knox Busch said, in line with city projections. Namburi’s budget calls for adding a library position focused on community engagement and volunteer coordination, to be covered by cutting the library’s budget for materials. In total, Namburi’s budget calls for adding about 14 jobs. To offset those increases, Namburi proposed some small cuts, including a total reduction of $150,000 from department budgets. Managers, supervisors and other employees not represented by a union would also pick up 10% of their health insurance costs, up from the current 5%. That would impact about 320 employees and save the city about $204,000, Knox Busch said. “Aligning services with available resources is a key strategic goal. In future years, additional resources will be required to maintain staffing levels and meet the growing demand for current programs. Even more resources will be needed if the city plans to expand existing programs or introduce new services,” Namburi’s message says. Despite optimism, Namburi’s proposal signals challenges ahead for Salem. She noted the city remains below its peers in library staffing, struggles to maintain existing parks and requires dozens more police officers to support a shift to a community policing model. Salem is also seeing increasing fire response times as calls increase. The budget would cover a year of city operations beginning July 1. Salem’s budget committee, which includes all city councilors, will discuss and may modify the budget over the coming weeks before the city council votes to adopt it. The city budget committee will have its first meeting to discuss the proposal on Wednesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. in Loucks Auditorium at the Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty St S.E. Joe Siess contributed reporting. Contact Managing Editor Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. SIGN UP: Independent reporting gives Salem a stronger voice and holds those in power accountable on issues ranging from homelessness to health care. Be part of that work by becoming a subscriber. Subscribe today. The post City budget proposal calls for new police to focus on downtown, drug trafficking appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less