Fire department budget hearing highlights EMS expansion, 30 new positions and outsourced billing

The Wilmington Finance Committee held a budget hearing for the Fire Department in which city budget staff and Fire Chief Kurt Looney outlined a proposed FY 2026 general fund budget that adds EMS operations to fire department responsibilities and increases authorized firefighter strength.

Winkler, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the proposed FY26 fire general fund budget is roughly $36 million, an increase of about $3 million (8.9%) over the original FY25 budget. He told the committee the single largest new cost is EMS: the city added 30 firefighter positions to support ambulance transport and related EMS operations and budgeted a net additional EMS operating cost of about $1.3 million after projected billing revenue.

Nut graf: the city has moved to provide ambulance transport directly after Trinity Health’s EMS operations became unsustainable; the FY26 budget reflects staffing increases, vehicle and equipment purchases, outsourcing of medical billing and startup costs, and projected insurer revenue that is expected to offset some operating costs.

Major points presented

- Staffing and costs: the budget shows total authorized firefighter strength rising to 186 (up 30 from the original FY25 authorized level), with 31 new positions reflected in personal services. Winkler said the total cost of the 30 positions is approximately $2.7 million; an upgraded battalion chief post for EMS oversight was shown at ~ $36,000 additional cost; a civilian EMS manager to handle billing and compliance was budgeted at $116,000.

- EMS operating costs and revenue: staff reported a total additional EMS operations cost of $3.8 million relative to the original FY25 budget. The city expects EMS medical insurance billing revenue of about $2.5 million in FY26; after that revenue the net new EMS operating cost was presented as roughly $1.3 million.

- Billing contract and fees: staff said the city will contract with Specklen for medical insurance billing and will budget about $290,000 for outsourced billing and compliance. Fire leadership reiterated that Specklen will not conduct collections; the vendor will submit claims and follow up once, but collection activity would be the city’s responsibility and was not planned because staff said collection costs would exceed likely recoveries.

- Apparatus, equipment and startup: Chief Looney said the department has five primary ambulances and three reserves and plans to purchase one new ambulance in FY26 at an estimated cost of approximately $300,000. The budget also includes $687,000 for replacement protective gear that Chief Looney said meets NFPA replacement standards. The MS&E line includes startup supplies and training costs of roughly $225,000 and $380,000 in internal services for ambulance operating costs, insurance and workers’ compensation.

Questions from council and staff clarifications

Council members asked how many residents are uninsured and how much of billed revenue would be self‑pay; staff said precise local uninsured counts were not immediately available and agreed to follow up. Chief Looney said Specklen’s base billing rates are adjusted when insurers settle claims, and he promised to provide more detail on the likely patient responsibility amounts for uninsured residents.

Council member inquiries also covered overtime, academy and recruitment costs. Staff said FY26 includes $335,000 in overtime budget to cover vacancies and vacations and a larger $1.5 million overtime line was discussed as covering expected vacancy coverage and transition demands. The department said recruit academy costs per trainee include protective gear (~$11,500 per recruit) and training/certification expenses and that an academy was scheduled to begin May 2.

Grants and capital

Chief Looney reported grant funds remaining in his grant account of about $1,024,289 to support training grounds and other projects; he said some grant funds would be used to replace a fire engine on order, and to fund phased training ground improvements. The capital line contains an allocation of about $3.5 million for station renovations and repairs.

What did not change

Chief Looney said the city intends to maintain minimum manning as required by the collective bargaining agreement and that no positions were deleted; the proposed FY26 budget reflects both negotiated salary and benefit increases and operational changes tied to municipal EMS.

Ending: The committee completed its question and answer session and asked staff to provide scheduled follow‑ups, including the uninsured population share and additional billing details.