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Council’s budget session balances line items, debates EMS 24/72 staffing changes and ARPA reallocations
Summary
In a live working session, councilors and staff reallocated roughly $2.7 million by trimming selected items and debated restoring positions and funding—in particular a shift to a 24/72 EMS schedule that requires additional paramedics and EMTs, use of leftover ARPA funds tied to a homeless shelter project, and a FEMA generator grant for emergency management.
Councilors, finance staff and department leads used a live worksheet to walk through budget line items and possible restorations to the general fund.
Jamie and Sabrina explained the mechanics: by pulling or reducing certain expenditures the council created roughly $2.4–2.7 million in available funding to reassign to priorities. The meeting included an alert about a FEMA grant staff said will be returned at the June 22 meeting for a $145,000 generator for an emergency-management warehouse with a local match near $35,710.
The session spent significant time on public safety staffing and schedule changes. Council discussed moving EMS from a 24/48 model to a 24/72 schedule; department leaders said fully implementing the change countywide requires 13 positions (the current budgeted nine would need four additional hires), raising the paramedic complement from five to seven and EMTs from four to six. Staff provided an estimate of roughly $138,000 per paramedic (including salary, benefits and non-personnel startup costs) and about $100,000 per EMT, and said the county could either fund an in-house paramedic instructor (argued as a long-term cost saver) or continue to send staff to external training.
Council members questioned where leftover ARPA funds would be reprogrammed if the homeless-shelter award cannot be closed; staff said they are working with United Way to recover those dollars and, once recovered, they could be reassigned to approved projects such as evidence storage or the coroner's office.
Other personnel matters discussed included restoring two annual firefighter hires (and a related truck purchase), an apparatus technician position to reduce maintenance backlogs, a staff attorney position for the sheriff's office (with vehicle), and converting a part-time veterans affairs receptionist to full-time. Staff emphasized some estimates are preliminary and that final figures will be provided once position packages are cleaned up.
Council made no final appropriation in the session but approved moving the live worksheet changes forward for a third reading; staff will return with finalized numbers and options for funding (fund balance, ARPA reprogramming, or bonding) at a future meeting.
