The budget calls for the layoff of one full-time police department employee, freezes hiring on open positions in all departments and drastically cuts overtime across the board.
In revenue, the budget includes two already-passed measures: a slight raise in property taxes to make up for losses in the tax base and an increase in the water surcharge to $6 a month.
Mayor Jeff Harrison has 10 days to sign the budget or return it to the council with a statement of his objections.
He said he's "still evaluating" the budget.
Chief of Police Joe Eldridge is not happy with losing an officer.
"There's no good way to feel about that," he said. "I'm sure nobody feels good about it."
He said his department will have trouble covering the city 24 hours a day with only five officers and very little overtime allowed.
Eldridge, and Harrison, will decide which officer gets laid off.
Council member Bill Hodges called the budget "tight," but said he was pleased with the way it turned out.
"It's a good budget," he said.
More tax increases, Hodges said, were not what Cumberland needed at this time.
"Our problem in Cumberland is not too little revenue. We don't prioritize. We spend money foolishly," he said.
The idea that the city is wasting money, said Harrison, is simply not true.
"They just don't want to raise revenue," he said of the council.
The budget does not include an increase in the alcohol license fee, something included in previous drafts.
Harrison asked the council why they didn't include an increase in the fee, and Norma Bowyer replied: "Because we don't collect it."
She said that only a small portion of the people who hold liquor licenses in Cumberland are actually paying the fee, and that she'll approve raising the cost when everyone is paying it.
The hiring freeze included in this budget will hurt the public, said Harrison.
"We have work orders piling up in the works department, without enough employees," he said. "They're asking the impossible. They want us to keep everyone safe and eliminate the drug problem, with barely enough officers shift to shift."
If the mayor vetoes the budget, it requires a majority-plus-one vote to overrule his veto.
At the end of Tuesday's meeting, chaos arose after the first reading an ordinance that would have declared an emergency in Cumberland and sharply limited the mayor's spending outside of the budget, requiring the council to approve any expenditures over $200 not in the city budget.
The wording of the ordinance suggested that it could be passed on a first reading, because approving it would be declaring an emergency and would suspend the requirement of two readings.
After the first reading, Harrison said that he had consulted with attorneys and the ordinance would likely not be valid without a second reading because the situation in Cumberland would not be recognized as an emergency.
Hodges made a motion to go ahead with the second reading. There was a second, but no one on the council actually cast their vote.
Hodges withdrew his motion, saying the council would call a special meeting to pass the ordinance, and moved to adjourn the meeting.
That motion passed.
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