GILROY
– Fire department salaries, benefits and staffing levels –
including the future opening of the city’s planned third fire
station in the Northwest Quad – could be among the tough decisions
city officials will have to consider as they navigate the city’s
budget issues in upcoming months.
GILROY – Fire department salaries, benefits and staffing levels – including the future opening of the city’s planned third fire station in the Northwest Quad – could be among the tough decisions city officials will have to consider as they navigate the city’s budget issues in upcoming months.
As the city faces increasing revenue shortfalls, each department has been asked to identify 10 percent in potential cuts within their individual budgets. To meet his proposed $700,000 in cuts, Gilroy Fire Chief Jeff Clet has identified five vacant firefighter positions of nine that have been budgeted to provide an emergency response squad at the new station on Sunrise Drive.
And if those positions aren’t funded, the department won’t be in a position to open the third fire station, he said.
“Essentially we couldn’t do it – we’d be forced into a position not to be able to staff it,” Clet said Friday. “We’d have inadequate personnel to staff it with what’s being proposed.
“I don’t believe we could put a vehicle out there at all.”
The city’s current short-term plan is to open a temporary station at the new station site – located at 880 Sunrise Drive near Santa Teresa Boulevard – this July with a two-person rescue squad that will be able to respond to medical emergencies.
The station is expected to help the department meet its goal of reaching 95 percent of code-three calls within five minutes. Average response times in much of the fast-growing Northwest Quad – where several new subdivisions have been completed or planned – currently fall short of that goal in a business where every second counts.
Construction of the roughly $3 million station itself is due to go to bid this spring and be completed in March 2004. If completed, it will be the first station completed in the city since the mid-1970s.
Although the city still has the money to actually put up the building itself, officials say that money comes from developmental impact fees and can’t be used for staffing or operational costs.
And an additional six firefighters would be needed to staff a full-service engine with fire-suppression capabilities at the new station.
Despite careful planning – including the buildup of some $24 million in reserves during the recent economic boom – City Administrator Jay Baksa has warned that city officials will have to revisit their operational spending priorities just to compensate for the lackluster local economy and skyrocketing employee benefits costs.
And if the state follows through on its threat to take away revenues it directs to cities from the vehicle license fee, or VLF, the city could see an additional $800,000 drop in revenues during this fiscal year and $1.8 million annually in subsequent years from its roughly $31 million general fund.
To prepare, each city department has been asked to identify 10 percent potential cuts and prioritize their core services. Baksa has cautioned about possible delays in capital projects because of a potential lack of money to properly maintain and operate them, and has also said the city will have to deal with its employee benefit costs.
Those warnings come as city firefighters’ current contract is due to expire July 30.
Firefighters received a 7 percent raise in the first year and then 5 percent a year subsequently in their last contract, which dates back to 1999. However, union officials say the base salary level of roughly $73,800 that wages are adjusted on is still below the county average.
Retirement benefits will be another area of negotiation.
The GFD recently began staffing its engines with certified firefighter/paramedics. The changes allow the fire department, which is usually the first responder to medical emergencies, to provide more comprehensive life support services.
