Politics & Government

Dearborn Fire Department Budget will Decrease Slightly for 2014

The department will see a decrease of approximately $574,500 for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Dearborn Fire Department's budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year will remain relatively unchanged.

Dearborn Chief Joseph Murray presented the department's budget to the city council at a work session on Tuesday.

The proposed budget includes roughly $19.1 million in expenses, a decrease of $574,522 from the current fiscal year. Some of the big ticket items include $17.2 million for combined salary and benefits for the department's 121 firefighters, $123,587 for rentals, and $360,700 for supplies and materials.

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According to James O'Connor, Dearborn's director of finance, the DFD budget makes up 19 percent of the city's general fund budget.

O'Connor said the department requested $35,000 in direct subsidy funds from the city to replace lockers at all four fire stations. The request was originally deferred to fiscal year 2015, however an amendment will go before the council to add $26,000 back into the budget to pay for lockers at three stations for fiscal year 2014. Lockers at station 3 will be deferred until 2015.

Find out what's happening in Dearbornwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The lockers will be used to store firefighter gear in order to free up space in the fire stations for vehicles, replace storage racks that are more than 40 years old, and keep track of inventory, according to Murray.

Despite a proposed half million budget cut for the upcoming fiscal year, Murray said the department is prepared to operate efficiently by finding ways to reduce expenses.

"We've been pretty consistent with our budget over the last few years despite seeing an increase in call volume," Murray said.

For the past 10 years, the department has increased its call volume from approximately 4,000 alarms to 10,843, while decreasing operational costs and maintaining the current staffing model, Murray said. Overtime and training budgets have also been reduced by nearly two thirds.

Murray said the department will allocate $39,700 in the proposed budget for training and transportation, which is up roughly $8,000 from fiscal year 2012.

"The fire department has been utilizing all avenues of free training hosted by current organizational memberships," he said.

One example is the implementation of an in-house teleconferencing system being used jointly with other Dearborn-area fire departments.

"This process saves time and fuel costs by reducing equipment, personnel movement, and travel expenses," Murray said.

The department is also hoping to receive $1.7 in grant revenue for firefighter training and equipment this year.

The most recent awarded grants include CMS Energy’s $17,000 for the purchase of five new Toughbooks, and a FEMA-sponsored SAFER Grant for approximately $1 million. The department is waiting on approval of FEMA-sponsored AFG Grant for more than $340,000.

The DFD currently has openings for seven firefighters, however those positions will be filled once the department merges with the city of Melvindale's fire department, Murray said.

To view the Dearborn Fire Department's complete budget for 2013-2014, visit www.cityofdearborn.org and click on "transparency."


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