Orland Fire Looking to Pull Spending Back Several Years

Trustee Blair Rhode said Tuesday he would rather fire district staff used their 2006 budget as a benchmark for proposing cuts than the previous year’s budget, which increased by 40 percent in four years.

“We want to get back in front of that,” he said , prompting other trustees to ask Finance Director Kerry Sullivan to distribute copies of the previous six budgets before the next round of talks.

Because 80 percent of the annual Orland Fire budget is spent on salary and benefits and another 5 to 10 is mandated on certain expenses by law, trustees are tasked with examining less than one-fifth of the upcoming budget, including utilities, equipment, repairs, professional services and the like.

All told on Tuesday, Acting Fire Chief Raymond Kay and his staff proposed $139,658 in reductions from last year’s budget in seven specific areas.

Examined line by line were expenses related to juvenile fire starters, fire investigation, fleet management, EMS, training, safety and fitness. About 11 percent, or $115,000, has been cut from the fleet management portion of the budget alone, which Board President James Hickey credited simply to “tweaking” on behalf of two district mechanics and the firemen who oversee the maintenance of vehicles.

Hickey said the budget stands at about $29 million, only $12,000 higher than last year’s budget, in spite of a one-time cost of $100,000 for a federally mandated radio narrowband.

The fire district has identified $200,000 in possible grant funds which lobbyist Cheryl Axley will be tasked with collecting, and expenses could drop even further, by as much as $1 million, if the fire district pays off all of its debt obligations early, Hickey said.

On the recommendation of Acting Chief Raymond Kay, the proposed 2012 budget reflects the hiring of six new firemen.

Earlier this summer, trustees fought over . On Tuesday, Kay said he is proposing that trustees hire nearly half that to alleviate overtime demands.

If the board concurs, Hickey said he would prefer to take the top six of 11 applicants who tested last spring, even though the results of their tests have expired.

Also up for consideration is hiring a part- or full-time administrative assistant who would work specifically with EMS and training services. The fire district is hoping to off-set much of its own training costs through the rental of its training center to neighboring fire departments.

Kerry Sullivan said she would come to the third and final workshop on Oct. 18 with a projection of training revenue, and stressed that Tuesday’s discussions were just that—discussions.

Once the workshops are complete, trustees will craft the final budget behind closed doors, put it on display for public comment, and vote on it in December. The fire district’s fiscal year begins Jan. 1.

No member of the public attended Tuesday’s meeting.

Trustee Martin McGill, who didn't attend the previous workshop, was absent Tuesday night.