Fire/EMS budget shows cuts and vehicle replacements; officials delay a new training division chief pending strategic plan

Teton County and the Town of Jackson’s joint Fire and EMS presentation on April 29 outlined a reduced FY 2026 operations request but notable capital and staffing items.

Chief Mike Moyer said departments already reduced operations and capital requests “and we still are looking at a deficit on the county side.” He reported that the department sold two Darley apparatus and recovered approximately $1 million, which staff propose to place back into the fund balance and use to fund near‑term capital needs. The chief said Rescue 44 replacement (about $400,000) is proposed to be funded from that money.

Staff recommended not filling a requested new full‑time equivalent — a Division Chief of Training and Wildfire — until the department’s strategic plan and standards of cover assessment are completed. Moyer told elected officials the position had partial revenue offset in plan but that the timing and level of service questions justified delay: “This is a year where we need to tighten our belts a little bit,” he said.

Assets and deferred maintenance: Fire staff noted a large inventory of facilities and rolling stock — multiple stations (some more than 25 years old) and a fleet of apparatus — and said that, while most capital replacements are in CIP plans, deferred maintenance and aging stations will require focused planning. The department is already deferring a roof replacement on one station to absorb near‑term budget constraints.

Grants and contracts: Chief Moyer and staff discussed existing mutual‑aid and contracted ambulance coverage agreements, including a contract with a neighboring vendor (identified in discussion as the Idaho contract) at roughly $560,000 for the current year. Fire staff said that in past years the department’s use of mutual‑aid and deployment revenues has helped offset operating costs and that they continue to develop revenue sources (inspections, special events, wildfire deployments).

Volunteer and career staffing: Moyer reported the department had roughly 46 career staff and the remainder volunteers (roughly 114 total personnel across staff and volunteers at the time of presentation) and said volunteer recruitment and retention remain challenging outside of the town area. He said the department is evaluating retention tools for career staff, including housing stability, and will present a standards of cover/strategic plan in early summer.

Next steps: Fire and county/town staff will carry the strategic‑planning and standards‑of‑cover work to elected officials for decisions about service levels and the Division Chief request. Capital replacements flagged as urgent (e.g., Rescue 44) are proposed to be funded from the apparatus sale proceeds into the fund balance.

Ending: Officials praised department leadership for asset sales that reduced capital pressure, and they requested the department return with the strategic plan and more detailed capital replacement sequencing.