The sixth time was the charm for the South Whidbey Fire/EMS 2015 budget.
Commissioners approved next year’s revenue and expense plans for operations and capital through next year at a meeting Thursday night. Other than district staff and a prospective volunteer, no one showed up to the district’s public hearing on the budget.
After several rounds and iterations, the sixth revision for $2.5 million in operational expenses and $1.3 million in capital projects, South Whidbey’s spending was set.
Staffing remained a concern for the commissioners at the public meeting Nov. 13. Pay for part-time firefighters and station captains was initially built into the budget, but both were removed in later versions. Chief Rusty Palmer still has worries about adequately staffing each of the six stations: Clinton, Maxwelton, Langley, Bayview, Saratoga and Freeland.
Burnout of paid staff — administration and fire chiefs — was a major concern in one of the final line-item discussions about the 2015 budget. Commissioner Mike Helland again brought up trying to remove about $5,000 from the expenses reserved for extra vacation buy-back. The money was not the issue, he said, but that the deputy chiefs may wear themselves too thin if they do not take their allotted vacation time every tear.
“Take a vacation, be with your family, prune your bushes if you have to,” Helland said.
“It’s for the health and welfare of our employees,” he added.
Chief Rusty Palmer acknowledged that it was difficult for the deputy chiefs to schedule time off because of the district’s need for an on-duty officer at all times. The duty officer is one of those who act as the commander at an emergency in a district that relies on less than 80 volunteers for its fire fight ng and emergency medical responses.
“There’s really only one week out of every three where you can take off without disrupting things,” said Deputy Chief Mike Cotton.
Palmer, however, said that it was a common industry practice for extra vacation to be either used or lost, which the commissioners said they’d consider at the start of next year’s policy updates and rewrites.
One way the district may be able to make a slight dent in its volunteer staffing issues was the extension of the district boundaries. Currently, the district limits where volunteers live to within its service territory, effectively all of South Whidbey north to about Mutiny Bay Road.
The board approved the acceptance of one recruit who lives about a mile north of that extent.
“As we lose members, we’re needing to expand,” Palmer said.
Officially, the boundary policy was suspended for the specific recruit, though Commissioner Kenon Simmons said it should be up to the chief to determine whether a recruit’s residence qualifies them for volunteer service. Making that an official district-wide change will have to come next year, however.
In all, the district’s budget decreased by about $60,000 from 2014. That accounts for the district adding about $28,000 from its annual 1 percent increase to its property levy allowed by the state.
Three capital expenses are planned for 2015. The first is about $300,000 for design and permitting work on the district’s proposed new Bayview fire station, which will also serve as the district’s new headquarters and training facility. Estimates for the total cost of the project are around $5.4 million.
Two new water tenders — vehicles specifically designed to haul water — are slated to be bought in the coming year as well. Each costs about $300,000, and Palmer said it makes sense to buy multiple trucks at a time for cost savings from the manufacturer and to replace a pair of 27-year-old vehicles.
