Fredonia chief urges trustees to restore fire and EMS budget items for PPE, training and equipment

Chief Myers presented a detailed review of the village’s fire and emergency medical services budget, describing where the department’s actual revenue and projected collections differ and asking trustees to restore selected capital and training funding.

Myers told trustees the department’s operating cost for career staffing, fire, advanced EMS response and civil defense totals about $1,587,000. He said “our revenue was $1,109,519,” and that after accounting for that income the net operating cost for career fire and EMS is about $477,481. Myers and staff distinguished “hard revenue” (amounts actually received) from projections and said EMS collections for calendar-year 2024 totaled $556,074 against a prior projection of $800,000. Based on recent collections and an October rate increase, Myers recommended a more conservative projection of $550,000 for next year while acknowledging any revenue projection is inherently uncertain: “I can't make people pay their bills, nor can the board of trustees,” he said.

The chief walked trustees through proposed capital requests and line-item changes in the draft budget. Key requests and points raised during the discussion included:

- Town of Pomfret contract: The village receives approximately $540,498 from a three-year contract with the Town of Pomfret; Myers counted the full contract amount as revenue because the related expense lines and a contractual payment to the volunteer fire company are included in the fire department’s expenditure accounts. Trustees noted about 33% of that contract is passed to the volunteer company. Myers said the Pomfret payment will rise to about $549,000 next year with a further modest increase in the following year.

- Personal protective equipment (PPE): Myers requested funding for 4 full sets of PPE (jacket, pants and boots) at roughly $5,500 per set, and said two sets are a near-term safety need (about $11,000) to outfit a recruit returning from academy and a replacement for a retiring lieutenant. He said fitted gear can take three to four months to deliver and that turnout gear has an approximately 10‑year usable lifespan.

- Power-load system and ambulance equipment: Myers described a $35,000 power-load system originally proposed for the newest ambulance (Ambulance 13); volunteers offered to pay half. He explained the town deferred that purchase and, instead, moved an existing power-load into the newest ambulance; the backup ambulance (Ambulance 12) has a failing power-load and stretcher and remains parked until repaired. Myers said initial repair costs are uncertain but expected to be several thousand dollars.

- Training and personnel: Myers reported Lieutenant Tim Winters plans to retire in June; the replacement will be a lower-cost new hire for the remaining fiscal year but must be budgeted to avoid overtime. The chief asked trustees to restore travel/training and paramedic-education funding. He said paramedic-school and mandatory continuing education together create a baseline training need he estimated at roughly $12,000 and asked trustees to consider restoring training lines cut in the draft budget.

- Safety and compliance: Trustees questioned items tied to regulatory compliance. Myers noted several items are driven by state or industry safety standards (he referenced New York State OSHA and NFPA as relevant standards) and described mandatory equipment such as personal bailout systems for interior firefighters (personal escape systems required for work above the second floor). He said the department had applied for and received grants in recent years (including a grant that offset SCBA purchases) and that grant-seeking remains the first approach to cover major purchases.

- Maintenance and capital schedule: Myers said two new apparatus — a pumper engine and a ladder truck — are expected for delivery later in the year; those new units should reduce maintenance costs because warranty coverage will apply. He indicated the village will seek board approval to sell older apparatus.

Trustees probed the chief on assumptions included in revenue projections, how volunteer-company funds are used (Myers said volunteers use their portion for equipment, down payments and related costs), and the timing and necessity of purchases. Several trustees expressed concern about counting projected EMS revenue in the general budget and asked staff to prepare updated numbers for the board’s final budget meeting the following week.

No budget line-item votes were taken at the meeting; trustees set additional budget-review sessions with staff to finalize numbers prior to public hearing and final adoption.