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Candia budget hearing: fire department payroll shift drives roughly 21% budget rise
Summary
At the Sept. 13 budget hearing the Candia Board of Selectmen approved fire and ambulance budgets after fire leadership said federal payroll rules forced conversion of a stipend system to hourly pay, pushing the fire department budget up about 21% and adding training costs.
Dean, speaking for the town’s fire and forestry operations, told the Board of Selectmen during the Sept. 13 budget hearing that a change required by federal payroll rules forced the department to abandon a longstanding stipend system and pay firefighters an hourly wage and biweekly, regardless of whether they work one hour or many. Dean said that legal requirement, and an anticipated schedule of trainings, produced an estimated 21% increase in next year’s fire budget.
The department leader said the stipend had previously been allocated by points earned for calls and training; after a mid-season change the town began assigning hourly pay rates based on rank and expertise. He identified two large live-burn trainings as a driver of the increase and added $10,000 to the training line to cover those events (two burn trainings at roughly $5,000 each). He also flagged anticipated increases in tower rental for communications and a modest rise in equipment and maintenance lines.
Several Selectmen asked whether the change meant the town now operated a "paid" fire department; Dean and others clarified volunteers still respond voluntarily to calls and are paid only for calls and training under the new hourly-pay approach. One board member described the outcome as a change in compensation method rather than a move to full-time staffing.
The board considered the accompanying ambulance budget adjustments and a conservative 5.1% total increase that included a 4% cost-of-living factor for ambulance personnel. After brief discussion, a motion to approve the ambulance budget as adjusted and the fire department budget as presented was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.
What happens next: department leaders said the new payroll mechanics will be tracked throughout the year and the town will revisit estimates if call volumes or training needs change. The board approved the budgets and moved on to other departments’ requests.
