Warren council reviews fire-rescue budget as chiefs urge stipend increases and warn of gear costs

Warren Town Council and fire department leaders spent the meeting probing a proposed increase for the town’s fire and rescue budget, with department leaders seeking modest salary adjustments and more stipends while councilors asked for last-year actuals before final approval.

Fire Chief Souza presented line-item changes including 2% adjustments to nonunion fire wages and other small increases for positions listed as “medical director, EMS coordinator” and stipends for assistant chiefs and a deputy. Souza described increases for maintenance, routine apparatus repairs and supplies, and a request to restore “general office expense” funding cut last year.

Chief Souza told the council turnout gear is costly — “with everything $4,500 a set” — and that outfitting an incoming recruit class would exceed current stock. He also flagged a forthcoming state requirement on PFAS-free protective equipment and said current market supply is limited to a small number of vendors.

Council members pressed revenue and prior spending. One councilor said the proposed section reflects roughly a 16% increase and asked whether the department was coming in at the approved 2024–25 budget baseline. Finance staff and department representatives said some annual maintenance and testing costs (pump tests, ladder testing, bottle hydro-testing) occur at specific times of year and thus do not yet appear in year-to-date actuals. The chief said those costs typically occur in the spring, explaining part of the mismatch between current account balances and annualized expenditures.

The council and staff discussed third-party billing (insurance/ambulance billing) as a revenue source. Department staff said the projection for third-party billing revenue is $700,000 and that current receipts are tracking “a little bit ahead” of projection. Councilors cautioned the town should not assume the entire third-party billing amount can be allocated only to stipends, noting that billing revenue also covers vehicle wear and tear, medical supplies and payments toward new vehicles.

Members also queried details on new and existing stipends: a duty-chief stipend for captains who serve one week a month on night watch, administrative stipends for volunteers who assist with office duties, and fire company fees (a stipend divided by seven stations). A councilor asked for a historical five‑year view of the rescue stipend to understand how the line has changed; the chief said he could provide that.

Councilors repeatedly asked for “actuals” — audited final numbers from the last completed fiscal year — to compare with the proposed baseline and to justify increases. At several points councilors said they would prefer to defer a final vote until staff supplied the completed-year actuals and a closer projection of pending spring maintenance costs.

Outcome: The council carried the fire safety section forward for further review; staff were asked to provide last completed fiscal-year actuals and more precise projections for pending maintenance and gear purchases before the item returns for final action.