Kenyon workshop: staff recommend keeping $90,000 fire capital transfer as townships share costs

Kenyon — During a budget workshop, staff reviewed fire department revenue assumptions and recommended preserving a $90,000 transfer to the truck fund while trimming a few operating line items.

Staff told the council that the fire district's budget is shared: the city contributes roughly 51% and surrounding townships supply the rest. Staff identified GL 342000 (township contract revenue) as approximately $93,785 and asked council to verify contracts before finalizing the fire revenue estimate.

On recommended cuts, staff said they had balanced the fire budget and proposed modest reductions to some expense lines, including reducing computer support from $1,500 to $500 and shrinking training from $10,000 to $7,000, which together produced a small cash saving. "We did do a balanced budget for the fire department as well," one staff member said when explaining the worksheet adjustments.

Capital and replacement planning: staff noted the city and participating townships planned multi-year contributions to a truck fund to purchase and maintain apparatus; a new tender was expected in January and staff urged preserving the planned transfer so the next engine replacement schedule would remain funded. They also flagged a capital-asset policy change enacted by Gazsby that could require grouped purchases (turnout gear, SCBAs) to be capitalized if they pass the capitalization threshold.

Next steps: staff asked council to confirm the township contract amounts, verify federal or state reimbursements for training where applicable, and directed staff to roll unused turnout-gear money into next year's budget where appropriate. No formal motion or vote occurred during the workshop; staff will return verified revenue and revised expenditure lines.