BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Bethlehem City Council on Thursday rejected multiple budget amendments that would have added four firefighters to the city’s fire department, despite urgent pleas from firefighters, union officials and two council members who argued staffing shortages have reached a crisis point.
Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith proposed amendments to the 2026 budget that would have reallocated funding from the city’s Community Recovery Fund, the firefighter overtime budget and the Department of Community and Economic Development to hire four new firefighters and promote four current firefighters to lieutenant upon academy completion. She said the changes were needed to ensure an officer is assigned to Engine 9, which currently operates without one.
“It is essential that we staff an officer at Engine 9, which currently lacks an officer resulting in one officer being responsible for calls to two stations at once,” Crampsie Smith said.
But her amendments failed 2–5, with only Crampsie Smith and Councilman Bryan Callahan voting in favor. A separate last-minute proposal by Callahan to raise property taxes — offered without a specific millage increase — also failed 3–4.
Council members who opposed the amendments cited concerns about using one-time cash sources to pay for recurring personnel costs. Several said the proposals arrived too late in the budget review process.
Community Recovery Fund at center of dispute
The proposed staffing plan would have required diverting money from the city’s Community Recovery Fund, which provides up to $500,000 in grants to local nonprofits serving Bethlehem residents. The fund supports 16 priority areas including housing, food assistance, mental health services, arts and culture, senior services and violence prevention.
Crampsie Smith said using a portion of the $1.6 million remaining in the program was the only viable option to meet staffing needs by early 2026, given the fire academy’s January schedule.
“I’m discouraged by the attempt to undermine me professionally and personally by falsely accusing me of dismantling the Community Recovery Fund — a fund I had a huge role in establishing,” she said. “I had to look at the budget and see where I could take money to hire four more firefighters.”
She said the city could later apply for a federal SAFER grant to replenish the fund or reduce overtime spending once additional firefighters are hired. Thirty-one firefighters are currently eligible for retirement, which she said would eventually offset the cost.
Several nonprofit leaders, including shelter operator Bob Rapp Jr., urged the city not to cut the fund, saying demand for services has surged amid rising homelessness and limited housing availability.
“We need every dollar we get,” Rapp said. “It seems like we’ve come to a place where we have to argue against each other for certain funding, and that’s not where we should be.”
Firefighters say understaffing poses safety risks
Firefighters filled the council chambers, telling officials that chronic understaffing has led to burnout and dangerous conditions.
Callahan noted the department mandated overtime 28 times between Sept. 18 and Nov. 18.
“Somebody was saying, ‘We don’t care if you’re burnt out, you have to work,’” he said. “If we don’t do something now, we’re going to be right back in the same position, probably worse.”
Local 735 President Lou Jimenez said firefighters are responding to twice as many calls as they did two decades ago while staffing has decreased. The city, he said, has relied on overtime and attrition instead of rebuilding the department.
“We are not just a budget line item. We are human beings with families, emotions and limits,” Jimenez said. “Our city deserves the fire protection it needs.”
Jimenez and other firefighters urged officials to use a portion of the city’s $25 million rainy day fund to hire the additional personnel. The city has previously used reserves for vehicles, paving and building repairs.
Administration stands by 2026 plan
Mayor J. William Reynolds was not present and sent Business Administrator Eric Evans, who said the administration would not support using reserve funds or the Community Recovery Fund for staffing, and called instead for completing a citywide fire and EMS study. The study is expected next year and may inform staffing increases in the 2027 budget. Evans did not say why the mayor was absent.
Evans said it was not possible to take money from the general fund for the positions.
Council President Michael Colon said he would not support any of the amendments, emphasizing the budget’s complexity.
“I’m not a firefighter, but I was a dispatcher for many years,” Colon said. “I understand how complicated this is.”
The city currently budgets for 104 firefighters but has only 82 available due to vacancies, injuries and military deployments. Bethlehem staffs 18 firefighters per shift — below the National Fire Protection Association’s recommended 30.
A union-backed study released in October found the department should have at least 113 firefighters for a city of Bethlehem’s size, driven by rising call volume and expanding housing developments.
What comes next
Reynolds’ 2026 budget maintains current staffing levels and does not raise property taxes. The mayor has warned that adding four firefighters would cost about $480,000 and require roughly a 1.7% tax increase.
While council ultimately voted down the amendments, firefighters said the issue is too urgent to delay until 2027.
“Make the right call,” Firefighter John Ruff told council members. “Leave this city better than when you got in.”
Isabel Hope is a journalist and website designer based in Bethlehem, PA. She graduated with a degree in journalism from The University of Alabama in 2022, where she served as News Editor of the student newspaper. Isabel has lived in the Lehigh Valley for three years and is passionate about reporting for the communities she now calls home.