Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District approved a budget for 2019-20 that will catch the district up on a few needs and move it into maintenance mode.
The budget, which totals out at $3.44 million in the General Fund, establishes good contingency funds and ending fund balances, Fire Chief Dave Barringer said of the budget. That’s been among his goals.
“Really, my goal was to catch up with our needs – medical equipment, heart monitors, turnouts,” Barringer said. Along with ongoing bond projects, the budget includes repair and maintenance to grounds and buildings, again catching up.
“I really believe next year, we’ll really be in what I call maintenance mode,” Barringer said.
In the budget, personnel expenses are increasing by $93,000, Barringer said in his budget message. That’s largely related to increases in payments to the Public Employees Retirement System and health insurance benefits.
Materials and services increase by $36,000, much of which will go to repairs and maintenance of ground and buildings.
The General Fund operating contingency bumps up from $100,000 to $150,000, and the unappropriated ending fund balance is $400,000, a gain of $25,000 from this year, 2018-19.
The budget projects a beginning fund balance of $1 million. In other revenues, Fire-Med and ambulance fees are projected to increase from a budgeted $787,000 this year to $820,000. Property taxes are projected to increase from $1.2 million to $1.25 million.
The General Fund, which covers nearly all of the district’s activity, increases from $3.18 million to $3.44 million.
Personnel costs increase from $1.76 million to $1.84 million. Materials and services increases from $414,000 to $454,000.
The General Fund includes up to $250,000 in a line of credit that may be used to pay operating costs early in the fiscal year. The district would repay the loan upon receiving tax money. The district did not use the line of credit last year, and Barringer doesn’t anticipate using it this year, with early operating expenses covered by the beginning fund balance.
The budget increases capital outlays from $120,000 to $123,500.
The administration division, part of the General Fund, increases from $1.68 million to $1.8 million. The fund includes the fire chief, battalion chiefs and administrative assistant.
The ambulance division, which covers training, medical supplies, uniforms and ambulance volunteers, increases from $112,500 to $130,500.
The emergency services division, which includes firefighter-paramedics and part time medics, along with repairs and maintenance and operating supplies, increases from $1.32 million to $1.4 million.
The district will pay $229,000 in principal and $11,000 in interest on a $1.575 million bond approved by voters in November 2016. The bond has been used to purchase equipment and vehicles. Remaining bond proceeds of $320,000 will be combined with a $105,000 transfer to the district’s Building and Equipment Reserve Fund to complete building improvements, including a remodel of sleeping quarters at the Fire Hall and the addition of a new vehicle bay at the Foster Station.
A $391,000 fund for grant programs will continue to provide $81,000 toward two day-time firefighters.
Barringer said the district will apply for funding to upgrade heart monitors. The district’s contribution would be $7,550. It also is applying for a wildland grant to replace personal protective equipment. The match will be $10,000.
The district plans to purchase a couple of heart monitors if it does not win the grant, Barringer said. The district also will acquire 15 new sets of turnouts with a plan to replace five sets per year going forward to meet standards for firefighter safety
In the next couple of years, the district will continue to save and focus on acquiring an additional ambulance, a new fire engine and a fire engine for use on wildland conflagration fires.
On the revenue side, “we implemented a clearinghouse for ambulance billing and have seen much faster insurance payments received as a result of this change,” Barringer said. “We also have changed our billing program to Internet-based, which allows automatic updates and a very secure storage of billing information for HIPAA compliance.”
The bond proceeds have helped the district replace and purchase items to fill needs that had been neglected, Barringer said. “This has helped free up our other revenue sources to meet the day-to-day operating costs that continue to increase.”
With the Budget Committee’s approval, the budget moves to the district board of directors for a public hearing and adoption by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.
Budget Committee members are Kevin Strong, Michelle Rowton, Rob Younger, Ron Sipe and Marty Mealue along with members of the Board of Directors: President Dawn Mitchell, Vice President Tim Geil, Secretary-Treasurer Don Hopkins, Larry Johnson and Charlene Adams.