Rome's $59M 2027 Budget: Council Reviews Show Salt, Fuel and Fire Costs Up

Rome's Common Council has worked through most department budgets in Mayor Jeffrey Lanigan's proposed 2027 spending plan, about $59 million with no change to the property tax rate, the Rome Sentinel reported Oct. 23. The full proposal is in the city's 2027 budget book.

Line	2027 proposed	Compared with 2026
Road salt	$800,000	$623,000 budgeted
Street maintenance fuel	about $210,700	$97,135 budgeted
Fire Department	$8,841,787	up just over $100,000
Information Technology	$722,157	up just under $100,000
Treasurer's office	$800,224	up just over $30,000 (contract raises)
Corporation Counsel	$540,751	$543,884

Officials tied the salt jump to a 13% price increase. Public Works is nearly 17% of the whole budget. The fire chief told councilors he'd have asked for eight new bulletproof vests and thermal imaging cameras if not for cuts.

Lanigan had every department build its request from zero this year. Under the city charter, the council can change the budget but can't raise total spending. A hearing and vote date weren't published in the report.