Columbia residents spoke directly with city leaders Wednesday evening during the city's monthly "Let's Talk Local" community discussion.

Wednesday's discussion focused on the newly adopted Fiscal Year 2026 budget , which took effect Oct. 1.

"The majority of our general fund goes to public safety," Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said. "If we think about public safety as police and fire, $35 million of our $132 million goes to the police department and $30 million goes to the fire department. And the majority of that is for the people responding for when you call for service."

Buffaloe also addressed questions about money the city will get from a settlement with internet service provider Brightspeed.

"Those are funds that we would've been collecting anyway," Buffaloe said. "They would've gone

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