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COLUMBIA, MO. -- Columbia city council members approved a $384 million budget for next year during Monday night’s council meeting.

Next year’s budget fills four vacant firefighter positions. The new firefighters will partially staff a new 2-person fire truck at Station Two on Worley Street. Columbia Professional Firefighters President Brad Fraizer said citizens calling 911 will continue to get outstanding fire service.

“That’s going to work," Fraizer said. "We’ll take whatever we can and make it work. Ideally, we would like to have eight, but the current economic conditions just aren’t going to allow for that. Four will get us closer to where we need to be.”

Next year’s Columbia city budget also has money for one new police officer and two emergency 911 dispatchers.

Originally, Columbia City Manager Bill Watkins did not want to fill eight vacant positions within the Columbia Fire Department. Mayor Bob McDavid said council members came up with the perfect compromise by filling four vacancies.

McDavid said council members need to spend taxpayer money as wisely as possible.

“We’re doing two things," McDavid said. "Number one, we’re trying to encourage as much economic activity as we can. Secondly, we are going to try and establish a culture of cost sensitivity so every dollar that is saved is a dollar in city services that we can offer that we otherwise couldn’t.”

Columbia fire officials said it will take about a month to fill the four firefighter vacancies.

Columbia council members budgeted $344,000 to fill four vacant firefighter positions that were the result of two retirements and two resignations.