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Fire chief, safety director preview levy choices as EMS increase and Fire reduction considered
Summary
City officials briefed the committee on options to place an EMS increase and a Fire reduction on the November ballot, described timing and ballot-deadline constraints, and stressed the need to budget for capital lead times (fire engine build 2.5–3 years).
Safety Director Dan Chafin and Fire Chief Bob Lindner told the committee June 17 that the City is pursuing parallel levy work to present voters with an EMS increase while reducing the Fire mil rate, so taxpayers could see an offset. "EMS would be the increase and was the one currently to increase the mil rate to 4," Chafin said, explaining that doing EMS earlier gives an additional opportunity for a levy vote and allows side-by-side comparison with any Fire reduction.
Chafin stressed the importance of not reducing cash reserves to zero because the department must fund capital purchases and multi-year commitments. Chief Lindner noted apparatus lead times: "If an engine needed to be ordered today, the build time was probably two and one-half to three years." Committee members asked for detailed budget projections and for a public-outreach plan; Chafin said final valuations and official Auditor figures would be needed to complete levy sizing and that the ballot-certification deadline was roughly early August for the November 3 election.
The Committee discussed past levy outreach methods (donations, food events, staff and council public appearances) and the limitations on using public dollars for political advocacy; Lindner and Chafin said volunteers, association funds and private fundraising had been used in prior campaigns. The discussion closed with a request for Administration to return with an explicit multi-year capital plan tied to levy options.
