Mayor Carmella saves money by leaving city jobs empty

Mayor Carmella Mantello is saving money by leaving city jobs empty, instead of paying enough to fill them. Her next budget has 51 jobs with no one in them. They are parks crews, code inspectors, planners, mechanics, and water and sewer workers.

She says the hiring pause helps the city’s surplus. Her own deputy mayor says the jobs are hard to fill because Troy’s pay and benefits don’t compete. When she wanted police jobs filled, she raised the pay, and she says it worked.

• Jobs in her next budget with no one in them

  51

  35 city jobs, 16 water and sewer

• Pay her budget takes back for empty jobs

  $1.66M

  Up from $40,600 in 2018

• Parks jobs with no one in them

  7

  Laborers, a landscaper, a maintenance worker

She plans for the jobs to stay empty

Every Troy budget lists the jobs the city needs and the pay for each one. Then it takes back the pay for jobs the city plans to leave empty. The city calls the money it takes back “salary savings.”

In 2018 the budget took back $40,600. Her 2027 budget takes back $1.66 million. The amount started climbing under Mayor Patrick Madden, and it has grown in every budget she has written.

Every budget since 2018 has taken back more pay for empty jobs

Salary savings in Troy's General Fund budget, 2018 to the 2027 proposal

1. 2018 Madden

   $40,600

2. 2019 Madden

   $41,225

3. 2020 Madden

   $82,292

4. 2021 Madden

   $98,506

5. 2022 Madden

   $382,028

6. 2023 Madden

   $743,219

7. 2024 Madden

   $1,107,191

8. 2025 Mantello

   $1,187,785

9. 2026 Mantello

   $1,275,379

10. 2027 Mantello, proposed

    $1,658,141

Show the numbers

Category	Pay taken back
2018 Madden	$40,600
2019 Madden	$41,225
2020 Madden	$82,292
2021 Madden	$98,506
2022 Madden	$382,028
2023 Madden	$743,219
2024 Madden	$1,107,191
2025 Mantello	$1,187,785
2026 Mantello	$1,275,379
2027 Mantello, proposed	$1,658,141

51 jobs have no one in them

Each position page in the budget shows what the person in each job was being paid when the budget was written. In her next budget, 51 jobs show $0.

The 35 empty city jobs, by office:

Parks has the most empty city jobs

General Fund jobs in the 2027 proposed budget with a current salary of $0

1. Parks 5 laborers, a landscaper, a maintenance worker

   7

2. Police 4 officers, an account clerk

   5

3. Code Enforcement 2 rental registry inspectors, a plans examiner, an assistant inspector

   4

4. Planning the Commissioner of Planning and a planner

   2

5. Engineering the Deputy City Engineer and an aide

   2

6. Fire an equipment mechanic, an account clerk

   2

7. Traffic Control 2 sign workers

   2

8. Street Maintenance a laborer, an equipment operator

   2

9. Nine other offices one job each, including the mayor's office

   9

Show the numbers

Category	Jobs
Parks 5 laborers, a landscaper, a maintenance worker	7
Police 4 officers, an account clerk	5
Code Enforcement 2 rental registry inspectors, a plans examiner, an assistant inspector	4
Planning the Commissioner of Planning and a planner	2
Engineering the Deputy City Engineer and an aide	2
Fire an equipment mechanic, an account clerk	2
Traffic Control 2 sign workers	2
Street Maintenance a laborer, an equipment operator	2
Nine other offices one job each, including the mayor's office	9

The other 16 are water and sewer jobs, paid from your water and sewer bills. The sewer crew has 18 jobs, and 5 of them are empty. At the October 29 budget hearing, the administration said the open water plant and water main jobs are put off “until the end of 27.” The same budget raises your water rate 10.1%. See Mayor Carmella’s tax increase is on your water bill.

She says the hiring pause helps the surplus

Her budget message says why the jobs stay empty:

I have directed City departments and staff to pause hiring for positions outside of police officers and firefighters, while evaluating any potential new hires on a case-by-case basis. The goal is not simply to limit spending. It is to make sure that every dollar we do spend produces the greatest possible benefit for residents. We are controlling expenditures, strengthening the City’s budget surplus, maintaining strong credit and bond ratings…

Her deputy mayor says Troy’s pay doesn’t compete

Deputy Mayor Seamus Donnelly spoke at the budget hearing. Donnelly said the city tried to add a pay step for drivers with a commercial license, and the union turned it down. On why the city has trouble hiring:

If you have somebody that has a CDL [commercial driver’s license] and they’re looking, they’re going to compare Troy to state OGS [Office of General Services]… and we’re just not… Many years ago going to work for government had certain benefits that the private sector didn’t. Those times have changed.

When she wanted police jobs filled, she raised the pay

In the fall of 2025, her budget listed 8 police officer jobs that no one was being paid to do. The same budget raised the starting pay for officers:

We have made critical improvements to officer compensation, raising starting salaries by nearly $10,000 to attract and retain highly qualified professionals committed to serving Troy.

A year later, her budget lists 4 empty officer jobs, and she says the department is full:

In 2026, the Troy Police Department reached full staffing for the first time in years, supported by investments in compensation, equipment, and operations.

The parks, code, planning, water, and sewer jobs got the hiring pause instead.

What the record shows

Mayor Mantello is saving money by leaving city jobs empty, instead of paying enough to fill them. Her next budget takes back $1.66 million in pay for empty jobs and has 51 jobs with no one in them. She says the hiring pause helps the city’s surplus. Her deputy mayor says people compare Troy’s jobs to the state’s, and that government jobs no longer come with the benefits they once did. When she raised police pay, she says the police department filled up.