Board to review large fire, police budget requests

A change in police pay policy and improvements to the city’s fire protection — two items to result in significant budget increases if approved — are on tap for discussion during Tuesday’s (June 14) study session of the Fort Smith Board of Directors.

Mike Richards, chief of the Fort Smith Fire Department, noted in a June 1 memo to City Administrator Ray Gosack that new equipment and a new fire station at Chaffee Crossing is required to maintain the city’s ISO 2 rating. If the status quo is maintained, the city could lose the rating in a planned 2013 review. A higher rating would raise insurance premiums for most property in the city.

“(A)ny reduction in our overall ISO Public Protection Classification rating will affect all citizens and businesses in Fort Smith. It is our recommendation that we begin construction of the Chaffee Crossing Fire Station as soon as possible,” Richards noted in the memo.

The city has previously estimated the cost at just short of $3 million to build and equip a fire station at Chaffee Crossing. It will cost about $900,000 a year to operate.

In addition to the Chaffee Crossing upfront and annual costs, Richards also requests permission to add 12 positions to the fire department to address the weakest part (43% grade out of 100%) of the recent ISO review. The 12 positions are estimated to add $600,000 annually to the fire department budget.

Adding 12 positions appears to be a minimal solution to the low ISO rating in the personnel category. Richards notes in the memo that to bring the ISO rating in personnel up to a Class 1 category would require an increase of 87 firefighters at an estimated annual budget cost of $5 million.

Also, to address ISO report weaknesses in the coverage area by the city’s ladder and pumper trucks, Richards recommends the purchase of three new pumper trucks and three ladder trucks at an estimated cost of $4.305 million. The purchases, however, would save $500,000 for equipping the Chaffee Crossing station because a 2005 model pumper truck could be reassigned to the new station.

In a memo to the board of directors, Gosack recommends a three-step process to address Richards’ request.
• Approve work on a conceptual design for the Chaffee Crossing fire station, with a 5-person committee (2 citizens, 1 board member, 2 fire department staff) to recommend a design and cost estimate.

• Begin communicating with the community about the fire department needs and potential benefits. This process may include working with area insurance agents.

• Schedule an election later in 2011 or early 2012 to extend an existing 1% sales tax that would help pay for fire station improvements and equipment, as well as continued work on improving the city’s wet-weather sanitary system.

“These two projects — the fire service improvements and the sanitary sewer improvements — must be posed as separate questions on the ballot. Since the projects are unrelated, they can’t be combined into one question on the ballot,” Gosack noted in his memo to the board.

POLICE PAY CHANGES
Gosack and Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey are recommending to the city board a gradual reduction in the weekly hours at which overtime pay begins for police officers. The policy now is that police officers are paid time and one-half for overtime after 43 hours. All other city employees begin overtime pay at 40 hours.

The new policy would lower the threshold by one hour per year beginning in July. Lowering the hours from 43 to 40 would increase the annual police budget by an estimated $365,100. Reducing the overtime trigger from 43 to 42 hours will increase the 2011 budget by an estimated $53,100.

“If the board concurs with implementing this change, we’ll prepare a resolution which makes the change for 2011 effective with the July 11, 2011 pay period. This will begin moving the overtime pay practice for police officers closer to parity with other similarly-situated city employees,” Gosack wrote.