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Fire Department budget tops $400 million; Corso highlights hiring, equipment and capital plans
Summary
Director Mark Corso briefed the Commission on the mayor's proposed budget, which he said exceeds $401 million for the department, with roughly 88–89% of spending for salaries and benefits. Corso highlighted planned hiring academies, equipment replacement increases, expansion of the QRV pilot and capital and bond-related facility work.
Director Mark Corso told the Fire Commission the mayor’s proposed budget for fiscal 2018–19 puts the department’s two‑year ledger above $401 million and emphasizes hiring and equipment replacement.
"Eighteen‑nineteen is the first year that the department has eclipsed 400,000,000 as total budget," Corso said, and he noted that roughly 88–89% of the department’s expenditures are salary and benefits.
Corso outlined three major initiatives driving increases: continuation of the public‑safety hiring plan with multiple firefighter and EMT/paramedic academies; a multiyear equipment fleet replacement that exceeds the previous plan by about $4 million over both fiscal years; and program expansions including an allocation of approximately $750,000 to enlarge the Quick Response Vehicle (QRV) pilot so it runs two 12‑hour shifts daily during the next fiscal year.
On capital, Corso said roughly $6 million was allocated for facilities projects (generators, showers, windows and maintenance) over two years and more than $5 million for bond‑related preplanning and seismic assessments. He also noted $1,500,000 allocated for furniture, fixtures and equipment for an ambulance deployment facility and a roughly $500,000 joint contribution (Department of Emergency Management fund) for an automated dispatch upgrade project.
Commissioners pressed for line‑item detail: Corso confirmed that "personal watercraft" refers to jet skis (an inventory refresh of an estimated six to eight units), that a mobile‑air replacement is a high‑priority vehicle to refill oxygen bottles, and that the $400,000 shower line item is intended as repair and phased replacement coordinated with bond work rather than a single‑shower cost.
Corso said the budget includes position authority for a grant‑writer role (approved in position count but not yet funded to hire) and that equipment replacements and QRV funding are primarily responsible for the year‑to‑year change. He briefed the Commission on the schedule ahead: department presentations to the Board’s Budget and Finance Committee and a public hearing scheduled for June 18, with the first full board vote on the budget projected for July 24.
Commissioners thanked Corso and requested printed graphics and additional packet materials for follow‑up questions. No formal vote on the budget took place at the commission meeting.
