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Council hears multiple fire department requests for supplies, inspectors and paramedics
Summary
Council members reviewed requests totaling multiple line items for medical and safety supplies, additional fire inspectors and paramedic personnel; staff warned available contingency funds (JML) may not cover the full ask and suggested exploring other funding sources.
Committee members discussed several fire department wish‑list items including medical and safety supplies, eight additional fire inspectors and additional paramedic personnel to keep pace with the city’s growth.
“they're having supply chain issues, for 1 thing, on the supplies, and they're getting behind. And they're desperate to get stuff back in stock so that they're able to do their job just in a normal kind of way,” Council member Benson said, describing conversations with Chief Gary Hefflin about logistics, equipment and replenishment problems.
The committee reviewed line‑item figures pulled from the wish list: the chair said the packet showed roughly $9,100,000 for medical and safety supplies and related logistics, $1,200,000 to fund eight fire inspector positions to address inspection backlogs, and about $134,000 for the fire safety division for paramedic personnel. Benson emphasized that rapid city growth has strained inspection and emergency response capacity.
The chair cautioned members not to treat request review as a funding decision session: “we're not talking about funding sources today,” they said, but highlighted a potential shortfall in the JML (judgments and losses) account, noting the chair’s comment that “the JML account, maybe has 5,000,000 in it,” and that it likely would not cover all requests.
Council members asked follow‑up questions about whether training costs for new paramedic positions were included; Benson and other members said that detail was not known and should be clarified with the fire department. Council member Toombs and others also suggested finance staff verify whether items could be prioritized within limited 4% capital funding or other sources.
No formal motion or vote occurred. Staff and members agreed to follow up with fire department leadership on training costs, exact staffing counts, and potential funding sources before any items would be placed in a substitute budget.
