In most cases, individuals who serve as public officials are government employees. Therefore, the government entity is responsible for withholding and paying Federal income tax, social security and Medicare taxes. They must also issue a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, to a public official.
IRS website - https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/tax-withholding-for-government-workers
If you are an employee of the local government you cannot deduct employee business expenses on a federal tax return due to the tax code changes in effect for tax years 2018 thru 2025.
Do you receive a W-2 for that income? If so, no, you have nothing to deduct on a federal tax return.
-W-2 employees cannot deduct job-related expenses on a federal return. Job-related expenses were eliminated as a federal deduction for W-2 employees by the tax laws that changed for 2018 and beyond. Your state tax laws might be different in AL, AR, CA, HI, MN, NY or PA.
If you live in a state that lets you deduct job-related expenses, the information will flow from your federal return to the state return, so enter it in Federal>Deductions and Credits>Employment Expenses>Job-Related Expenses
"Is this considered a small business?"
If, on the other hand, you receive a 1099NEC, then you have self-employment income and you will pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare, and ordinary income tax. You will need to prepare a Schedule C for your business expenses. You will need to use online Self-Employed software or any version of the CD/download in order to do that.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2926899-how-does-my-side-job-affect-my-taxes
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/self-employed/help/what-is-the-self-employment-tax/00/25922
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2902389-why-am-i-paying-self-employment-tax
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901340-where-do-i-enter-schedule-c
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3398950-what-self-employed-expenses-can-i-deduct
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901110-do-i-need-to-make-estimated-tax-payments-to-the-irs
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/self-employed/