Fountain Hills council backs automatic aid application, delays promotions to limit near-term budget impact

Fountain Hills Town Council members told town staff they want the town to apply for inclusion in the regional automatic aid system while postponing most of the pay increases tied to a revised fire command structure until the new year.

The council’s direction came after roughly two hours of discussion of a multi‑year plan that would create three battalion chief positions next fiscal year, then add battalion safety officers the following year. Paul (town finance) and Chief Goff presented a two‑year implementation that they said could be accomplished without increasing the department’s total headcount; the plan uses promotions and cascading backfill rather than new hires.

Council members and staff emphasized safety as the primary motivation. Chief Goff described operational limits on captains managing multi‑unit incidents and said battalion chiefs provide incident command for complex fires and multi‑unit medical responses. He cited a recent large fire that drew 12 units and required multiple battalion chiefs from partner agencies.

Costs and budget timing drove the council’s request for a phase‑in. Staff estimated the first‑year payroll impact at about $222,000, with an additional roughly $110,000 in year two to finish the revised command structure. Council members asked whether the automatic aid application could proceed without immediately implementing promotions; staff said it could but inclusion in the automatic aid system is more attractive if Fountain Hills already has the proposed command structure in place.

The council moved to two linked directions: direct staff to submit the automatic aid application and include the promotions in the FY26 budget schedule but delay the major payroll impacts so the town will only begin paying the larger promotion amounts in January (approximately a six‑month delay). Council members described the action as a policy direction from the workshop, not a final appropriation; any budget changes will be finalized with the tentative and final budgets at regular council meetings.

The conversation also covered internal workforce effects. Staff said the plan is promotion‑based, not an addition of new full‑time positions, and that the department has begun preparing promotion eligibility (task books and interviews) so promotions could move quickly if approved. Council members and the chief discussed alternatives such as staggered promotions or using assignment pay as an interim measure; staff warned assignment pay can sometimes cost as much as a promotion once benefits and overtime are included.

What’s next: staff will prepare the automatic aid application and return with any formal contracts or agreements and with budget language that implements the timing direction given today. Formal budgetary action and any appropriation changes remain subject to regular meeting votes.