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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-1991-11-05 BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS NOVEMBER 5, 1991 (Special Meeting) MINUTES PRESENT: Commissioners Baker, Begg, Cornelius, Mayer, Neigh Common Council Liaison Daley 1 . Chairman Baker called the meeting to order at 1604 hours. 2 . Additions/Deletions to the agenda: - None 3 . Persons wishing to speak to the Board of Fire Commissioners : - None 4 . Moved by Commissioner Mayer, seconded by Comm. Cornelius that Comm. Mayer be authorized to submit the attached report, entitled "Report of the Board of Fire Commissioners to Common Council - November 6, 1991, " to Council at its November meeting, and to clearly state that he is acting on behalf of the board. Carried unanimously. As part of the discussion concerning the 1992 budget, Council Liaison Daley suggested that the board resubmit its own budget proposals to Common Council at the November meeting. Though this package had been presented before, Daley suggested Council members were not likely to have reviewed the recommendations in depth, having also been inundated with similar material from other departments . Moved by Commissioner Neigh, seconded by Comm. Mayer that the board direct Chief Olmstead to resubmit to Common Council the board's 1992 budget package previously submitted to the Mayor and to stress that the board would prefer that discussions begin from its own figures, rather than the Mayor's . Approved by a 4-1 margin (Comm. Begg opposed) . At 1717 hours, it was moved by Commissioner Mayer, seconded by Comm. Neigh and carried unanimously that the meeting be adjourned. Respectfully submitted, 41(tatA,‘ Lyman E. Baker Chairman Report of the Board of Fire Commissioners to Common Council November 6, 1991 On September 2, 1991 the Fire Chief submitted to Mayor Nichols the budget that the Board of Fire Commissioners approved at the Board's August 13, 1991 meeting. The Board at this time asked to meet with the Mayor to discuss the budget and answer any questions the Mayor might have. As of this time we have had no discussion with the Mayor. The Board' s budget request was $3, 232,077 . This budget was 5 . 75% ( $175, 613) higher than the 1991 budget because of labor contract adjustments . The 1991 budget was $3, 056, 464 . (See budget figures on p. 3) You all received a copy of that budget submission. I can recall the charges that the Board was irresponsible for not following the Mayor's guidelines . The duty of the Board of Fire Commissioners is to present to Common Council an operating budget. The Board was expanded to include two commissioners from the town of Ithaca in recognition of the fact that nearly 1/3 of the budget of the Fire Department comes from the town. This was done so that the interests of the town would be protected if there came a time that the city was going to levy unequal cuts in service on the town. That time has come. It is painfully obvious that the town's payment to the city for fire services is being used to offset other expenses within the city, not to provide equal fire service to the town. This is clearly shown by the fact that, the town's payment (along with Cornell's) is never shown in the Mayor' s budget as offsetting any expenses of the Fire Department. On October 30, 1991 the Mayor presented his budget to Common Council. In his statement he said that the Fire Department and Police Department were hit less than the other city departments . Using the Board's figures, the Mayor has cut the Fire Department 8% ($259, 367) . BUDGETS 1991 Budget (A) Salary $2, 560, 464 Equipment $36, 000 Contractual $460, 000 TOTAL $3, 056, 464 1992 Commissioner' s Budget (B) compared to (A) Salary $2, 736, 077 6 . 81% Equipment $36, 000 Contractual $460, 000 TOTAL $3, 232 , 077 5 . 75% 1992 Mayor' s Budget (C) compared to (A) (B) Salary $2, 582, 710 - . 01% - 5 . 94% Equipment Contractual $390,000 - 17 . 95% - 17 .95% TOTAL $2, 972, 710 - 2 . 82% - 8. 72% The Mayor's budget requires that there be no layoffs . The Fire Departments budget is 85% labor; there is not much room for reductions in the remaining 15% . The cuts that the Mayor feels will balance the budget must come from contractual expenses . This will amount to an 18% cut in contractual expenses . The effect of this is that most cuts will come from costs of the Volunteer Firefighter program. This does not mean that there will be an immediate effect from the budget cuts . The cuts as envisioned by the Mayor will save the city money in the short term, while preparing the way for long term losses . The Board of Fire Commissioners is willing to meet as necessary to resolve this issue. Please contact the Board to schedule meetings . At a meeting on October 29 1991 the Board of Fire Commissioners reduced the Fire Departments 1991 Budget by $60, 000 at the request of the B&A Committee of Common Council . Because of this cut and the cuts that the Mayor's budget requires, the Board of Fire Commissioners has suspended all Volunteer and Bunker recruitment activity within the Fire Department. We will look forward to hearing from you soon. prepaered by James L. Mayer, Fire Commissioner.