With just a few weeks left to trim more than 100 thousand dollars from the budget, the mayor presented new cost cutting measure, transferring four general fund jobs, including park employees and inspectors to enterprise fund jobs, mostly in the water department.
But the idea worth roughly 80 thousand dollars, didn't sit well with council members.

"To me we're still playing a dangerous shell game, move something here move something there but you're still not attacking the overall issue," said council member Ryan McNaughton.

The plans also include the possibility of having city employees pay more for their healthcare plan, but the city cannot move forward on those plans without union approval.

City officials aren't the only ones feeling the heat with the budget in fact, a new report from the police department shows officers aren't just understaffed, they're overworked.

"One out of every three of us is no longer here," said Niles Police Captain John Marshall.

The report shows staffing is taking it's toll burning out officers.
One reason is hot spots including the Eastwood Mall which causes the population to swell to 48 thousand people every day.
The number of officers per thousand residents has dropped from 1.95 in 2010 to 1.53 this year.

"We definitely are noticing a bit of fatigue especially since there are less people doing more work and it's just something that we are trying to deal with on a day to day basis," said Marshall.

State officials say once the budget is balanced, Niles will be able to bring back safety forces one by one, but for now the city has 3 weeks to work out the fine print before making a final presentation to the state.