The Santa Paula City Council has approved a $63.1 million operating and capital budget, paving the way for street repairs and more police and fire personnel.

The council voted 5-0 Monday night to pass the budget for the fiscal year that will begin July 1.

The budget sets aside about $135,000 for two new officers for the Police Department. The city has not added officers to its staff since 1998, Police Chief Stephen MacKinnon said.

"We definitely accept the two officers, but there continues to be a dire need for additional personnel," MacKinnon said, adding that the council recognizes the department's needs.

"We recognize it's very tough financial times," he said. "It continues to be for the city."

The department has about one officer per 1,000 people, but the standard is typically 1.5 to 2 per 1,000 people, he said. Santa Paula has a population of about 29,000.

In another effort to improve public safety, the budget includes a new full-time engineer for the city's Fire Department.

The department has had a shortage of engineers because many reserve firefighters, who are essentially volunteers, have left for full-time work.

Fire Chief Rick Araiza has said in the past that the engineers were needed because they perform the vital work of pumping an engine during a structure fire, among other important tasks.

Araiza is on vacation and could not be reached for comment, but Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Fildes said the department is pleased to be able to get a new engineer.

The department anticipates that the council will phase in other fire engineer positions in future budgets, Fildes said.

Officials said they did their best to work with the city's limited resources while also meeting needs and addressing future challenges.

Departments in the city have unmet needs, which they expressed earlier this year, City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said.

About $11.1 million is budgeted for the city's general fund, while about $14.9 million is for the non-general fund budget, which includes funding for utilities. The capital budget, which includes allocations for a future water recycling facility and other water infrastructure projects, is about $36.9 million.

Council members said Tuesday that one of the city's priorities is to see streets in the city repaired; $650,000 is budgeted for repairs. That amount is just a "drop in the bucket," Councilman Ralph Fernandez said.

"We have to take small bites out of our needs and make sure that we deal with what we have in a cautious manner," he said.

"I think maintaining a strong community, as far as the upkeep of the community, is important," he said earlier. "Some of the streets and roads have fallen in disrepair in the last few years. ... I think that if you don't pay attention to them, that's easy to happen."

About $400,000 was allotted for salary and benefit increases for city employees. Negotiations should occur with employee bargaining units when current agreements expire Dec. 31, according to Bobkiewicz.

The city needs to continue to prioritize increasing salaries for staff in future budgets and seek grants that may help with increases, Councilman Gabino Aguirre said Tuesday.

"Given our salary levels in town, I think we're going to put the most we possibly can on the table," he said. "There's still work to be done."

The city's redevelopment agency also had its $2.6 million budget approved.