“I don’t think we can go without a tax increase this year.”

That was part City Manager Nancy Freenock’s message to Warren City Council during Thursday’s budget session.

Council heard on Thursday from the fire and police departments. It marked the first of two sessions, the second of which is set for Monday night.

Freenock noted that the city’s public safety budget – fire and police – accounts for over 50 percent of the city’s budget.

The budget proposal currently is “already going to deplete the majority of the fund balance” based on the services the city provides. She said that raises the question of whether the city is providing services it can no longer afford.

See Saturday’s Times Observer for a full story from the meeting.