BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—The City of Bucyrus has announced layoffs within its Water Department, effective Feb. 7, 2025, due to ongoing budgetary constraints. This decision was made after thorough consideration of the city’s financial situation and exploring all other options to maintain services and minimize impacts on employees. The City Council was not involved in the decision-making process and was only informed after the press release.
Despite the layoff, the city assures residents that water services will not be impacted. All necessary operations will continue to ensure the safe and reliable delivery of water to the community.
The financial challenges stem from the city’s water fund entering the negative. Specific figures will be available after the completion of the GAAP conversion process later in 2025. The shortfall arose from the previous administration’s expectation that a large water distribution capital project would be reimbursed to the Waterworks Fund (701). However, those funds did not materialize, leading to inflated expected revenues and higher expenses in the 2024 budget than available.
The layoff is not related to AFSCME employee raises, which were negotiated with the union in mid-November 2024. The City Council held an executive session on the matter on Nov. 19, 2024. In early December, the Waterworks Fund (701) was found to be in a deficit during the budgeting process. The City Auditor met with a Local Government Service representative on Dec. 6, 2024, and the deficit was reported to the Council during the next regular meeting on Dec. 17, 2024.
Completed capital projects include the Bland Avenue and Kilbourne Drive waterline replacements, aimed at removing potential lead from the waterlines and improving drinking water quality for citizens.
Water and utility funds are directly impacted by infrastructure maintenance and operational expenses. Since 2019, the costs of maintaining and upgrading the city’s aging water systems have increased significantly. The City of Bucyrus has not raised water rates for over five years, predating the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this, the city recently increased water utility rates and paused all Waterworks capital projects unless mandated. The city will keep residents updated on further developments.