The Colorado Springs Fire Department has canceled training academies for new hires in 2026, a move expected to save the city about $1.6 million as officials try to plug a more than $30 million budget hole.

“We had some significant cuts we had to make and to do that, we had to find those bigger levers to pull,” Fire Department spokesperson Ashley Franco said.

Tim De Leon, the Fire Department’s deputy chief of support services, said the cost of the academy is largely driven by manpower. The city pays the salaries of new trainees, the firefighting staff who help run the academy and the extra shifts for people coming in during their days off to cover for the training staff.

The Fire Department usually offers one or two training academies a year. Colorado Springs canceled the academies between 2008 and 2010 in response to the Great Recession. De Leon said the department plans to resume the training academy in 2027.

He said the department would watch staffing levels closely to make sure the city did not see worse response times or major vacancies. If needed, the department could pursue a smaller academy class or other interim measures near the end of 2026.

“We may not see an impact on next year’s staffing, but as the attrition goes and we don’t have firefighters coming in as people retire in subsequent years, there is an option for more overtime,” De Leon said.

For similar budgetary reasons, the Colorado Springs Police Department will delay the start of the next police training academy from January to March, saving the city nearly $3 million.

Deputy Chief Jeff Jensen said the city still plans to have three classes of recruits undergo police academy training next year. The subsequent classes for new officers are set to begin in July and November.

“That rotation of weeks and everything else getting pushed out, it strikes a balance to cut the necessary costs through our budget but also work toward achieving authorized strength,” Jensen said.

Each class spends 26 weeks training at the police academy. The 82nd class of Colorado Springs police officers graduated Thursday and the 83rd class, which started in September, will be the only class going through training until March.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department is budgeted to have up to 413 firefighters. The proposed budget for 2026 does not change that number, though 10 civilian positions would be transferred to other funding sources.

Even with the academy delays, both of the public safety departments will have fairly stable budgets in 2026. The Fire Department will receive the same amount — $78 million — from the general fund that it did in 2025, and the Police Department will receive a $6.8 million budget increase from the general fund.