Shortfall in Fire Department budget raises questions on future funding

The city will have to dip into its budget surplus to keep the Fire Department funded at its current level of about $3 million.

The city will have to dip into its budget surplus to keep the Fire Department funded at its current level of about $3 million.

 
By Charles Sercombe
One thing is for certain in the coming months: City officials need to have a serious discussion on how to fund the Fire Department.
The city’s fiscal year is wrapping up at the end of June, and the new budget year starts on July 1.
At this point both years are about a million dollars short of their projected budget. That is forcing the city to draw down from its budget surplus of $4 million — $1 million for this year and $1 million for next year.
The cause of this is that a federal grant for the Fire Department has not come in – although it is expected to, said City Manager Katrina Powell.
But even with the SAFER grant, which pays for the salaries of 12 firefighters, it will eventually run out – at most in three years.
The Fire Department is the second most expensive department in the city with a budget of about $3 million.
The city’s total budget for this current fiscal year is $15.7 million, while next year it is going down a bit to $15.4 million.
The city’s new budget was approved Tuesday by the city council, and it now goes for further approval with the Transition Advisory Board on June 28. It will be interesting to see if the TAB approves a budget with deficit spending.
Councilmember Anam Miah has been the most outspoken about city finances. He asked for and received a breakdown on all city departments to see how many employees each has and the total cost to run each department.
“That’s in case we have to make cuts,” he said.
Miah has also lashed out at Powell for not coming to the council earlier in the budget year when it looked like there would be a shortfall.
Powell countered that not all budget revenues are known for certain until later in the year.

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