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Department: Fire (1210) <br />Fund: General (1.000) <br />Budget Summary (cant.): <br />a high level of calls for.service during the year. Since the Fire Department is benefiting <br />from these agreements, the department is responsible for the maintenance of the <br />structures. During 20..116, one of the homes required the removal of a dead tree in the <br />yard which required an increase in the Building Maintenance Services account. <br />Each year the department hosts a recognition banquet to honor the paid on -call <br />members for their service and commitment to the community. The Contracted Services <br />account. includes an allocation to fund this annual program.. Event organizers design a <br />celebration that is meaningful to the. membership yet is cost. effective and falls within the. <br />allotted amount: in the budget. Due to prudent planning, the. 2616 event was organized <br />under the estimated budget arnount,: which supports the _reduction in the Contracted <br />Services account. budget. <br />The 2017 Budget discussion continues the topics described in. the'201 G Revised Budget <br />above. The: estimate for the. Fire. Inspector salary anticipates the end of the Phased <br />Retirement Option utilized during the past .two years and funds a full-time. replacement <br />to fill the vacancy. The department'.s portion of the IT Coordinator position is also <br />funded for the entire year. The worker's compensation. expenditure amount adjusts the <br />contribution to what is due for the department based on the salaries and positions <br />included in the budget. <br />Employing a. Volunteer staff to respond. to calls for service provides a valuable way to <br />meet the demands of the public yet keep the: operational costs for the department lower <br />than it would be with a staff of full-time firefighters. The City maintains this. balance by <br />providing a unique "silent alarm" response to calls for service when the dispatcher is <br />unsure of what level of .presence is needecl far the situation_ In these instances, one <br />member of the. department responds to. the scene. to assess the situation and decide <br />what additional personnel and vehicle resources. are needed from the department: In <br />many cases, the.. one responding member is. able to address the need without help from <br />other members. This .initiative keeps salary costs low by paying only the members who <br />are needed at the scene instead of paying everyone available to respond. The difficult <br />part of this equation Is. ensuring there are members available to respond to the silent <br />alarm calls since the volunteer firefighters are already attending both fire and <br />ambulance calls for the department. Adding extra. calls to the. already high volume can <br />be difficult for some members to balance with their regular employment schedule. The <br />department is implementing:a program to pay staff assisting in the silent alarm response <br />to show appreciation for their extra work. This additional funding is included in the <br />Temporary Salaries line item. <br />A decrease in the annual cost for telephone services clue to .the implementation of the <br />Voice Over Internet Protocol (11oIP) system is off -se t by an increase in the Cellular <br />Phone charges. In an effort to reduce cellular phone charges in the future, the budget <br />