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Elgin accepts FEMA SAFER grant to fund six-ambulance staffing, council approves 9-0
Summary
The Elgin City Council approved acceptance of a FEMA SAFER grant totaling just over $3 million to help fund hiring nine firefighter‑paramedics and reinstate a sixth full‑time ambulance; the city will absorb remaining legacy payroll costs after three years.
The Elgin City Council on Oct. 8 voted unanimously to accept a Federal Emergency Management Agency Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant worth just over $3,000,000 to fund hiring nine firefighter‑paramedics over three years and restore a sixth full‑time ambulance to the city's emergency medical services.
City staff told the council the SAFER award offsets most of the roughly $5,000,000 cost of the three‑year staffing plan, leaving the city responsible for about $2,000,000 during that three‑year period and then the full payroll costs thereafter. City officials said the grant-funded hires are intended to keep pace with a sustained rise in EMS demand: “about 77% of our call volume is…
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