HomeMy WebLinkAboutFire Department Budget Reductions FY 14 15 Final Fiscal Year 2014-15 Preliminary Fire Department Budget
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Overview
On May 13, 2014, the Fire Chief received a request from the City Manager’s Office to update the Fire Department Budget for Fiscal Year 2014/2015
The request specified that $6,710,029
must be adjusted from the Fire Department budget
On May 14, 2014, Fire Management Staff submitted the requested adjustments ($6,710,029) to the City Manager
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Overview Cont.
The total budget for Fire FY14/15 was $34,725,588
$3,397,197 was requested for fleet replacement and denied
$6,669,024 is the actual amount that will be reduced from the budget
Total
Fire Department Budget after proposed reductions for Fiscal Year 2014/2015 is $28,056,564
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Proposal
Eliminate two Fire Department companies
Change from Constant Staffing to Minimum Staffing
Elimination of the following Fire Department positions:
1- Battalion Chief
1- Fire Prevention
Officer
1- Emergency Services Manager
1- Fire Communications Manager
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Potential Impacts
Anytime a fire station is eliminated or pulled out of service there will be impacts
Delays in attacking structure and wildland fires, which may lead to increased life and property
loss
Response times to emergencies will increase, which may lead to an increased loss of life
Specialized services performed by specialty companies such as ladder trucks, Hazardous Materials
Response Team, and the Urban Search and Rescue Team may be delayed
The Fire Department’s ability to mitigate large fires and other significant emergencies will be diminished. The city
will need to rely on mutual aid from other agencies more often which may or may not be available
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Proposed Reductions
Citygate Associates was hired by the City Manager’s Office and the City Council to conduct an efficiency study for the fire department at the cost of $75,000
The report is due to be
released in June 2014
Fire Management would request that we be given the opportunity to review the Citygate report before implementation of any reductions
Any potential reductions to
the fire department would need to be evaluated by the City Attorney’s Office
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Opportunities
Ensure auto-aid agreements with cooperating agencies are in place and updated
This will help ensure that the closest resource is available to respond to an emergency regardless of
jurisdiction
This will also help ensure that the potential impacts to our neighboring cities are limited
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Opportunities Cont.
Ensure that Priority Dispatch is fully implemented
Priority Dispatch is a validated dispatch tool that is used to triage medical aid calls to ensure that only the necessary resources
respond to the call
Fire currently owns the system, however it is only being used for pre-arrival instructions
Fire to work with ICEMA and AMR to ensure that Fire Department units only
respond to priority medical aids
Will ensure that our fire companies are available for fire/ rescue calls more often
Will ensure that fire companies only respond to medical-aid calls
that require an Advanced Life Support (Paramedic) response
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Revenue Increases
EMS Billing
Increase Paramedic response fees
Current fee is $200
Fire Prevention Inspection Fees
Increase engine company inspection fees
Increase permit fees
Increase plan check fees
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Conclusion
Fire Management is recommending that the City Council give our staff an opportunity to analyze the Citygate report. This will allow our staff to make a more informed decision as to
any specific reductions from the Fire Department
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