September 15, 2017 at 3:51 p.m.
Finance committee begins work on 2018 city budget
Police, fire budgets discussed
Finance committee begins work on 2018 city budget
The panel started its 2018 budget work Sept. 7 with presentations from the police and fire departments.
Committee chair Mark Pelletier said he has a simple goal for the 2018 budget.
"I don't know what the intentions of this committee will be through all of this, but I'm hoping that we are looking at no increase for the year," Pelletier said. "Obviously, it's kind of a little bit early to tell if that's an option or not, but I think I'm going to look at it at all times."
The 2018 budget for the main fire and inspection department account is complicated because the city and Fire Union Local 1028 are currently in contract talks, which means fire chief Terry Williams doesn't have set salary numbers with which to work.
"That (the salary portion of the budget) is going to be dependent on that whole (negotiation) process," Williams said.
Williams said the electricity and gas portion of his budget was reduced by $4,000.
"I think the reason we can do that is because of the money we spent on the roof and insulation has made a big difference in the heating and cooling of the building," he said. "So I think the borrowing issue that we did was money well spent for us."
The water and wastewater budget was reduced by $500 while the line item for telephone went up $500. Williams also added $1,000 to the maintenance agreement portion of his budget because of computer software and equipment the department uses.
"We've stayed pretty stagnant in our budget, but I'm trying to get a little more realistic," Williams said.
When the subject of travel and training was discussed, Williams reminded the committee that he had to transfer money from the hazmat budget to the training account because the department went through its funds for that line item rather quickly this year.
"I'm only asking for a $500 increase for travel and training purposes for next year and with that $500 increase I just want you to know that dollar value divided by 21.5, which is the number of employees that I have, including the inspection department... only comes out to be $372.09 per employee for the entire year," he said. "I think that is an extremely good value."
Remaining unchanged at $15,000 is the vehicle maintenance budget.
"I will tell you the reason that I am able to keep that dollar value is because of the work that public works (does) for our department," Williams said. "I want you folks to know how valuable their work has been to us, and it has really allowed me to hold that line item."
Outside of wages, over which he has no control over, Williams said he cut $2,500 from the fire and inspection department in his 2018 budget.
"Other than wages and salaries, I control $85,600 of this budget, which is only 4 percent," Williams said.
Alderperson Sherrie Belliveau asked what figures he used in his projected 2018 budget for wages and salary.
Williams said he met with finance director Wendi Bixby and interim city administrator Keith Kost and it was decided the new budget should include a 1.5 percent increase over last year at the start of the year and another 1 percent increase in the middle of the year.
"The three of us talked about that, we don't have a crystal ball," Williams added.
For now, health insurance is being listed as an increase, although the exact amount is not yet known, Pelletier added.
"It is a question of how much, and we always put in for it because we can't wait until that comes to get started on things," he said. "And fortunately, it's usually under what we have (budgeted) so it closes a bit of a gap for us down the stretch."
Alderman Alex Young pointed out that health insurance costs still eat up a large portion of the budget and the city is going to have to explore alternatives sooner rather than later to get those costs under control.
With those temporary wage and salary figures in place, the proposed 2018 fire and inspection budget is $1,967,271, up from the $1,884,241 for 2017.
The health officer budget, which also falls under Williams' purview, is listed at $19,715, a decrease of $1,508 from what it was allocated in 2017. The department is expected to come in under budget this year and the net savings will probably be $108, Williams said.
"There is no increase in salaries, car allowance, anything," he said.
Williams did suggest that to simplify the budgeting purposes it might be easier to add the health officer right into the fire and inspection department.
"Because the employees themselves are broken down on an employee wage sheet, so we would be able to look at employees specific, i.e. this position specifically," he explained. "There is no revenue associated with this budget, if Harry (Whidden) needs a hard hat or a pair of gloves or a flashlight, it comes out of the fire department budget anyway. Years ago, we combined the fire and inspections for kind of the same reasons."
"I don't see any reason to have them separate," Pelletier replied.
"Know that if we do that, it will increase the fire department's budget by $21,115. I know you're asking for a zero-percent, but it is actually going to have the effect of an increase on that budget," Williams said.
Pelletier agreed, but noted that the separate budget for the health officer would also be rolled into the fire and inspection budget. The employees of those departments, even the part-time ones, are accounted for there, why shouldn't the health inspector be different? The only way it would have to remain separate is if he were a contracted employee, it was explained.
"Actually, you wouldn't have to keep it separate, because I have a line item in my fire department budget called legal fees for the city attorney," Williams replied. "Why couldn't I have a line item in my budget for health officer?"
Kost suggested the position be rolled into the fire department budget and noted with an asterisk next to wages for the first couple years so any increase or other problems could be tracked.
The hazardous materials budget remains the same from last year at $7,011. Williams said the city gets $14,500 in state funding annually because, as a full-time paid fire department, RFD can staff the hazmat team 24/7. With everything remaining static with this budget, the account will have a projected fund balance of $40,778 at the end of 2018, he said.
"Part of that reason is because when we do routine hazmat training that affects the fire department in our normal duties, we don't charge their duty day or a portion of their duty day to this budget," Williams said. "That's why that (account) actually goes up by $14,500 every year."
Tank inspection is another account that will show an increase in its fund balance at the end of 2018, primarily because the RFD has increased the area it covers for that service, resulting in an increase in revenue. But to get that revenue, the account budget has been increased from a projected $6,950 for 2017 to $10,900 for 2018.
"We've significantly increased our territory and we have substantially improved our revenue stream for this," Williams said. "Which is why you'll see in the revenues from the 2017 to the 2018 budget, I went up to $15,000. The salaries I increased to $900, and overtime to $6,000."
He said he is still using just one inspector to cover the increased territory, and he intends to leave it at that for the time being.
"As long as we can do it, it comes out better in the end," he said. "If we get to a point where it's too much for that one person, we have the money there, we'll look at training a second."
Looking to the future, Williams said the department will be looking to replace the vehicle they use for tank inspections. The present vehicle was purchased with Homeland Security grant money and the city has paid only for its maintenance.
"We also use it for tailing an ambulance. So if we get a major trauma call, and we send an ambulance on it, rather then sending a big truck and wasting a bunch of fuel, we'll tail with that Tahoe so that there's some extra hands immediately on scene," he said. "We also use it in the winter for fire inspections because we don't have to leave a big truck full of water running, we don't have to leave an ambulance running to keep things warm so I.V. fluids and such don't freeze."
When it is deemed time to replace the vehicle, some of the tank inspection and hazmat fund balances could be used to offset the cost, he added, noting that it will likely be a couple of years before the vehicle will be retired.
The second largest budget under Williams' control is the city ambulance service, which also is the one that shows a loss.
Currently, the RFD receives a state grant totaling $6,000 because of the number of calls it goes on and the number of EMT basics it has on staff. But the number of EMT basics on staff continues to go down as they complete the requirements and become paramedics.
"It's a double-edge sword," Williams said. "It's great for the community, because you are getting a higher level of care. It's bad for one line item in our budget."
Williams said ambulance fees provide good revenue for the department, although what they bill is significantly lower than actual costs established by the city, due to contractual allowances.
In 2019, the ambulance service will lose $44,039 off its payment of principal on debt to build the building and purchase the ambulances and for training needed to put the ambulance service into operation.
"That is the end I've really been working toward, is to pay off our own debt that we incurred for doing this," Williams said, adding that the department won't need to replace an ambulance for another four or five years. He said he would recommend doing what is called a remount at that time, where the ambulance box is moved to a new cab and chassis, which is substantially cheaper then the cost of a whole new ambulance. Williams said that when they put the box on the chassis, they go through it and replace or refresh the inside components.
"In a remount, you save about 60 percent over buying a new ambulance," he said. "It's like a brand new ambulance. And 60 percent of a new ambulance, you're probably saving $75,000-80,000."
He added that the hardest thing on ambulances isn't the mileage, it's the hours of operation on the engine due to idling.
When everything was totaled up, the proposed 2018 budget for the ambulance fund is projected to show a loss of $106,637, down from the projected 2017 loss of $132,633.
Williams did tell the committee about one future capital request that will have to be addressed in the 2018 borrowing.
"I have been preparing you guys for over the last four or five years for the air packs," Williams said. "The middle of 2019 is the drop dead for our air packs to expire, which means at that time we will no longer be able to do any structural firefighting, rescue, confined space, anything like that."
Pelletier said the committee hasn't started looking at 2018 borrowing, which funds high cost items on the "wish lists" of the various departments, but the air packs appear to be a perfect candidate.
"This one isn't a wish list (item)," Williams replied, adding that the department continues to write FEMA grant requests in hopes of funding the new packs that way.
"The bad news is we haven't been able successful in securing the FEMA grants the last four years for air packs," he said. "The good news, this year we still have not been kicked out of the FEMA grant, and it's at the end of its cycle. Which, potentially, could be really positive for us to have a shot at a 100-percent grant for the air packs."
He said the cost of the air packs and related items for them, such as the face pieces, will cost between $125,000 to $140,000 and the usefully service life would be 15 years.
"The problem we have currently is every single one of our packs is the same year," Williams said. "It's hard to stagger them because new technology keeps coming out and your face pieces don't fit. You're better off, unfortunately, to get them all at once so you can get all the same matching face pieces."
As part of the new air pack purchases, he said he is looking to get at least one smaller rescue air unit that could be used by police officers.
Other items that will have to be looked at for the 2018 borrowing will be three new boilers for City Hall, HVAC for the city shop and some park projects.
Police budget
The 2018 budget is the first for new police chief Lloyd Gauthier. He requested an increase of $121,883 over last year with a total budget request of $2,305,332. He brought Capt. Ron Lueneburg with him to the budget meeting because of his expertise and institutional memory.
"The items that I can control in my budget, I have not asked for any more money for those," Gauthier said. "The areas that obviously affected my budget the most was the collective bargaining agreement that was agreed upon in July with my union. Because of that, there were significant increases in some lines dealing with salary, overtime, call-in pay, OASDI (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and retirement."
Gauthier said the raise to the base pay of his officers resulted in higher overtime and call-in pay, which is based on pay rates.
One area that will be reduced is recruitment budget. That line item was higher in the 2017 budget as the city had to recruit and hire a new police chief following the resignation of Mike Steffes last October.
Lueneburg said when Bixby went through and figured the budget increase she came up with the $121,883 difference while he got $124,933.
"The reason for that, correct me if I'm wrong, is that when I went through and did the calculations on the budget, one of the big things you'll remember in the negotiations was the holiday pay. Up through the end of this year, that's a separate line item, which is held at around $12,000 in the past," Lueneburg said. "What I did, because the contract kind of restructured things where every employee will be paid out 112 hours times their hourly rate for holiday. I put that in with their salaries, which affects the OASDI and retirement a little bit because liberty is at a different rate."
Lueneburg said there won't be a specific line item in the 2018 budget for holiday pay because it has been folded into the salaries. This replaces the concession pay officers will receive through 2017 but is eliminated going forward, as well as holiday pay for those on duty during a holiday.
Lueneburg said he and Gauthier have been taking steps to get the excessive overtime that the department has incurred in the last few years under control. There are factors beyond the department's control that could cause additional overtime, but some of the changes have resulted in a reduction in the day-to-day overtime, they said.
"We're hoping that 2018 will give us a more realistic view for you to see how we can get that under control," Lueneburg said. "Right now we're still two positions short, and it may be possible that we carry those over into next year. We're trying to get the best candidates and applicants that we can; we don't want to settle."
He said if the vacant positions carry over into 2018, there might be an initial spike in overtime, but that will be offset by the salaries not being paid for the positions while they are vacant.
Gauthier said one of the contract concessions the police administration gained that should help cut overtime is that officers can be transferred temporarily to another shift to cover vacancies, with detectives filling in on patrol if necessary.
As with the fire department, Lueneburg said health insurance is still an unknown variable that could cause an increase in the budget.
He said the budget shows an increase in budgeted overtime to allow for the increase in hourly rates that resulted from the new contract. Also due to increase is the amount budgeted for gasoline, which has been going up in recent weeks.
According to Pelletier, in recent years all fuel expenses have been factored on a higher price then current averages to allow for such spikes.
Also in the 2018 budget is a request for a replacement squad car.
Lueneburg said the department gets at least five years of service from each squad, and longer from the unmarked cars, due to the excellent maintenance work done by the public works mechanics.
"It was very clear when I came on board that my responsibility is definitely the oversight of this budget," Gauthier said. "And Ron and I will certainly work to the best of our abilities to control what we can control."
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at jamie@rivernews online.com.
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