The Falcon Fire Protection District held a town hall meeting in June to solicit community feedback regarding the district’s budget plan.Trent Harwig, FFPD fire chief, said budget constraints could mean fewer services. Speaking to a scanty crowd, Harwig said, “We want to get a feel for what you’re comfortable with or without.”The FFPD is entirely funded by property taxes and special ownership taxes, and declining property taxes have taxed the current budget, which is dependent on a 6 percent growth rate. “Not only are we not getting that 6 percent, we’re losing 7 percent so it’s really more like 13 percent that we’re missing,” Harwig said. The district is estimating a 7 percent reduction in the 2012 budget, he said.Another reason for the budget shortfall is the 2010 secession of Banning Lewis Ranch from the district. The FFPD received about $45,000 in annual revenue from the Banning Lewis Ranch area, Harwig said.He said the district has already frozen salaries for the year. Firefighters can still move up the ranks within the department, but without pay increases.The district has also removed a $2.5 million fleet replacement (to be completed over 10 years) portion in the budget. “We cut our building and fleet maintenance budget, which is going to significantly reduce the fleet life,” Harwig said. “We respond with the smallest vehicle we can to save gas.””We buy fuel from the school district to get in on their bulk discount, said board director Daniel Kupferer. “We’ve been doing everything we can think of to minimize the cost to taxpayers. Now we need to know what you want. Everything is a trade-off, and we just want some input.”Harwig said either the district cuts people and services or raises the mill levy.A mill is defined as $1 per every $1,000 of assessed value on real and personal property. Harwig said the current cost of protection per house in the district is 5.712 mills, the third lowest amount out of the 18 districts. However, the assessed value of property protected in the FFPD is the second highest. In 2010, the district also received the third highest number of calls. Harwig said the last time voters increased the mill levy was in 2000.If they want to include another mill levy increase on the November ballot, the board needs to decide at the July meeting, Kupferer said.Harwig said American Medical Response, the ambulatory service utilized by the district, provides $65,000 in revenue per year for the salary of three employees, who are trained as both paramedics and firefighters. He said the district could discontinue its contract with AMR and provide their own ambulatory services, but they would lose out on the $65,000 for the employees. The upfront cost to provide the services is high, and it’s difficult to collect for the services, Harwig said.Currently, the FFPD has lost one full-time firefighter but the position remains open until they have a better picture of the budget situation, Harwig said.Kupferer said shrinking the staff or closing a fire station could change the FFPD’s ISO (Insurance Services Office) rating, which could lead to an increase in homeowner’s insurance for people in the district.A follow-up town hall meeting is scheduled July 13 at 7 p.m. at FFPD Station 1. The FFPD is urging residents to attend.
