THE ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, FIRE DEPARTMENT has gone $1.7 million over its budget for this year and is asking for a cash infusion to carry it through the end of the month when the fiscal year ends. It would bring the department’s total spending for the year up to $71 million.
The Anchorage Daily News reports:
“This should never have happened, but it did,” Fire Chief Craig Goodrich told Assembly members at a meeting Friday in City Hall. “But at this point, our alternative (to more funding) is to shut the fire department down for the last several weeks of the year.”
“I wanted to apologize to the Assembly, and to the mayor, and to the department and the citizens for winding up in this boat,” Goodrich, who was appointed chief in 2005, said Monday. “Some of it’s in our control, and some of it’s out of control.”
Anchorage Fire Sta. 9 (AFD photo)
The entire shortfall is caused by the use of overtime that was that much over the budgeted amount. The chief says that one of the primary causes for the excess was what he calls a “baby boom.” This year 29 firefighters used a lot of their annual leave to attend to newborn children in their households. That necessitated unexpected overtime costs to cover the positions.
The Anchorage Daily News has the full STORY.
Anchorage Fire Department WEBSITE.
