Akron plans to spend $785 million in operating expenses this year – nearly $14 million less than last year.
The reduction is due, in part, to raises negotiated in collective bargaining agreements with police, fire and other city employees last year, Mayor Shammas Malik said.
“It’s forced a lot of hard decisions,” Malik said. “Not that there aren’t always hard decisions; I just think that they’re getting harder. We’re trying to really control costs across the board, aggressively. I think labor is the biggest piece of that.”…