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Fire department budget: SAFER grant to add firefighters, overtime to fall; maintenance and equipment costs rise
Summary
Committee heard the Fire Department's FY26 budget, which includes SAFER grant-funded hires (44 firefighters), projected reductions in overtime, increased maintenance costs for SCBA and stretchers, and multi-year vehicle deliveries under an existing master lease.
The Finance Committee reviewed the Fire Department's FY26 budget at the April 29 meeting, where staff outlined revenue sources, staffing plans tied to a federal SAFER grant, and increased maintenance and equipment costs for critical life-safety gear.
Staff described the department as a revenue-generating unit: major revenues include plan-review fees (presented as an annual planning target near $900,000), rescue-billing receipts and fire-detail fees that flow through special revenue funds and are transferred to the general fund. Staff explained that some revenue and expenditure activity for fire details and rescue runs are booked in special funds and then transferred into the operating budget after year-end reconciliation.
On expenditures, presenters cited a proposed FY26 total of $96,810,836 (a decrease of about $1,090,937 or roughly 1.1% under the FY25 budget, as stated in the record). The budget includes salary and step increases, attrition savings and an allowance for 44 firefighters to be funded by the federal SAFER grant; staff said the SAFER-supported academy will reduce overtime needs substantially once hires are onboarded.
Overtime was a significant focus: committee members noted prior-year overtime spending near $10.1 million; staff said FY25 is trending lower and that the SAFER academy and improved staffing could reduce overtime by several million dollars across FY26 and FY27. Presenters provided historical overtime hours and said FY24 had more than 200,000 overtime hours, with FY25 trending down.
Supply and maintenance costs that will increase in FY26 include respirator (SCBA) maintenance (warranty expiration created new costs), stretcher and Lucas-device maintenance (previously covered by grants), ImageTrend reporting software consolidation and other fleet and apparatus upkeep. Staff emphasized that replacing full SCBA ensembles is costly (multi-million-dollar replacement) and that continuing to maintain current gear is the near-term approach. The department also addressed promotional exam costs, contractual allowances for uniforms and an ongoing master lease for major vehicles: deliveries on multiple apparatus (two rescues in July and six engines and a tower ladder in late FY26/early FY27) were discussed.
Committee members asked about vendor procurement, bidding for supplies, and the timing of deliveries from prior master-lease approvals; staff confirmed master-lease financing had been approved previously and that long lead times are driving current delivery schedules. No committee action on the department budget was taken at the hearing; the session served as a detailed review and Q&A.
