EFR budget increase?
July 23, 2008
By J.B. Wogan
Fire and rescue agency wants almost 5 percent more
The cost of fire protection may go up by nearly 5 percent next year, possibly pinching other city services.At a July 17 meeting, Eastside Fire & Rescue announced an increase of 4.97 percent in its annual budget for 2009. If approved by the board at its Aug. 12 meeting, EFR’s operating budget for 2009 would be $20,297,500.
EFR officials had hoped to increase the budget by 6.5 percent, but Issaquah, Sammamish and North Bend city officials requested a smaller number – 5 percent or less – due to the cities’ increasing costs.
Prior to the special meeting July 17, the EFR board of directors, comprised mainly of officials from those cities, also asked for a reduced figure.
Lyman Howard, finance director for the city of Sammamish, said local taxpayers will not experience an immediate fiscal impact from EFR’s budget increase.
“The bottom line is it does not have a direct effect,” Howard said. “If our cost of fire service goes up, it puts pressure on all the other programs that the city offers.”
Sammamish residents might see the city cut or shrink other city programs in the next few years to accommodate the higher cost of fire service, Howard explained.
Howard said the local Sammamish resident pays for fire service and protection in his or her general property tax.
Board members quizzed Dave Gray, EFR’s chief finance officer, on how he adjusted the budget increase to satisfy the requests of the three cities.
The difference between what Gray said EFR would like to have and what it included in the budget amounts to $911,209.
Though the change appeared in the budget as a “reduction,” EFR Director Jack Barry, a Sammamish city council member, reminded his fellow board members that the change was still a budget increase.
To meet the requests of Issaquah, Sammamish and North Bend, EFR plans to put off several components of the organization’s growth, according to Dave Gray, EFR’s chief finance officer.
EFR will not hire any new employees, begin any new programs or initiate any construction associated with new programs.
Gray explained that he found wiggle room in the budget by cutting aspects not associated with employee salaries.
Those salaries are related to inflation and cost of living, making them too unpredictable for drafting a reliable proposal, Gray said.
Among items Gray dropped from the proposed budget were wild land portable radios, upgraded electronic media for a station classroom, and two training programs.
Lee Soptich, EFR chief, said EFR will also cut a six-month transition program for young firefighters to overlap with retiring firefighters.
Soptich expressed concern that by cutting the program, EFR could become understaffed.
“There’s a bulge of folks who are retiring in our agency,” Soptich said. “There’s some risk in that.”
But Gray said that the programs and equipment removed from the 2009 budget were not permanent cuts in most cases.
“Defer is probably a better word,” Gray said. “We’ll be facing those issues again in 2009.”
The idea of deferring costs also alarmed some board members.
Mike Mitchell, Fire District 10 commissioner, said he was wary of procrastinating on budget problems that could return next year.
“So we actually have deferred costs that we will actually have somewhere down the road?” Mitchell asked.
Later Mitchell and several other board members requested to see a list of items included in the reductions, to better assess whether or not they should defer those costs.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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