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Advisory committee flags deferred station maintenance, seeks budget clarity for volunteer departments
Summary
Committee members reported leaky roofs, broken windows and ongoing deferred maintenance at volunteer stations and asked staff to clarify whether building repairs should be funded from fire funds or general government funds; Diane explained the March 20 budget deadline and how departments should request line-item increases.
Committee members used the April 7 meeting to press for answers about recurring station maintenance and how renovation and repairs are funded for volunteer stations.
Multiple members said buildings have longstanding problems — Race Track’s roof and torn siding, Station 2 leaks and taped windows — and asked why those repairs appeared to come from the fire department budget rather than a general-fund facilities maintenance account. Jake Hanley asked directly: "Why is the station maintenance? Station renovations come out of the fire budget if it's a government owned building, and there's like government buildings that get fixed through the general fund. Why is every fire station in Butte-Silver Bow getting fixed out of the fire budget?"
Diane explained the county budget process and said budget requests were due March 20; she said departments could request past three-year spending averages and must provide memos to justify line-item increases for apparatus, building maintenance and software. Diane said she maintains historical department spending and that the administration requested a fund with line items per volunteer department (pending approval) to improve tracking.
Members said inconsistency in how trustees, chiefs and department staff handle budget submissions has led to confusion; some chiefs submit budgets, others route requests through trustees. Bill Boyle and others asked for a clear, consistent process and for staff to provide last year’s expenditure data to departments earlier in the budget cycle so chiefs and trustees can prepare requests on time.
The committee agreed to pursue clarification: obtain past spending data for volunteer departments, ask the budget office to explain why station repairs have been charged to fire funds in some cases, and consider adding capital-improvement planning as part of the consolidation work if districts are reorganized.
