City Council
MEETING DATE: 12/14/2016
TITLE:
Title
New Firefighter Positions
End
FROM:
Paul S. Wilson, Fire Chief
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council approve a budget amendment to the FY16-17 budget in the amount of either $157,532 or $175,251 and authorize the addition of three FTE positions to the fire department staffing schedule.
Body
BACKGROUND:
In January 2016 the City Council established their 2016 goals. Staff received direction from Council for the fire department to apply for a Federal Emergency Management Agency - Staffing for Adequate and Fire and Emergency Response Grant for six (6) firefighter / paramedics.
The grant was submitted in March 2016 and was not awarded.
Council also adopted goals statements asking for a review of staffing levels in the Fire Department once year-end financial data was available. The year-end budget status report was presented to Council on October 26, 2016 during the study session. The conclusion of the report was that the City is unable to add staffing at this time, based on existing revenue sources being fully committed to covering existing and known future costs.
The City has recently permitted several medical cannabis businesses, from which the City will be collecting taxes based on current voter authorization to do so. Revenue from the medical cannabis businesses is not included in future revenue projections due to the limited history that the City has with actual collections. Because a number of businesses are now permitted, however, it is possible to estimate potential collections. Finance staff estimate that within three years the City could see new revenues from medical cannabis business in excess of $3,000,000 per year.
DISCUSSION:
FIRE DEPARTMENT STAFFING:
The fire department has operated since 2012 with only six on-duty firefighters assigned to the fire companies (two personnel on each fire apparatus) protecting 53,000 residents. The two ambulances are each ...
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