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Will You Be A Diamond or Dust?

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The carbon-based life form known as a career firefighter is facing unprecedented pressure.  By now, every unfilled firefighter position has been eliminated in the current (FY09) budget. Hundreds of firefighter jobs have evaporated in the past nine months.

That may not be enough when Fiscal Year 2010 starts.  Jurisdictions are looking at $87 of cash to cover $100 of expenses … AFTER all of the cuts were made in 2oo8.

The gap erodes to $74 of cash on hand if state and federal government payments to local government are reduced or eliminated.

BUDGETING 101

Local government spends half of it’s revenues on the K-12 school system.  Of the remaining, about 70% is spent on public safety.  In past recessions the bulk of the staffing cuts went to parks, libraries, social services  and public works.

Reductions made during the 1981 budget crisis were never reversed.  In my county, social workers saw an increase of their case workload in 1982.  It was supposed to be “temporary” but was never changed.

The 2008 recession accelerated this fall and, since a vacant store makes no sale and employs no one, there is continued deterioration in the size of the revenue stream of property, personal income and general sales/gross receipts taxes.

Because of a poor 2008 Christmas shopping season, “… the worst in 40 years,” municipalities need to MAKE FURTHER REDUCTIONS in their revenue projections.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

1)  Learn as much as you can about YOUR local budgeting process and situation.  IAFF published Surviving an Economic Crisis that was posted on their website April 03, 2008. Available for free download to IAFF members, the 26 page article provides detailed recommendations on developing a local action plan.

iaff_economic_crisistitle_web

2)  Strive to get accurate information.  Firefighter discussion boards, blogs and firehouse kitchen table discussions that start with  “A friend of my cousin who works in city hall …” are not good sources of information.

Most fire departments are agencies of local government, meaning that budget development is a public democratic process.   In the old days, budgets were monitored monthly and adjusted quarterly.  Now they are monitored daily and adjusted weekly.

3)  Consider recommendations from International Association of Fire Chiefs. IAFC recently issued Weathering the Economic Storm: Fiscal Challenges in Fire and Emergency Medical Services.  A 22 page members-only document, it suggests a three step approach:

  1. Financial Diversification:  What revenues or savings can we gain over the next five years?
  2. Gaining Efficiencies
  3. Service Reductions

iafc_econstorm_web

2009 STIMULUS PACKAGE MAY PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES

When New York City was forced to permanently eliminate 900 firefighter jobs on July 6, 1975, it found a way to temporarily engage some of the laid-off FDNY members as federal contract workers.  The city obtained a Housing and Urban Development grant to preserve the housing stock damaged by fire.  The HUD contractors were trained to install window, door and roof panels on fire-damaged housing in order to preserve the housing stock.

The delivery system to get these technicians to the work site were the ladder companies that lost positions at the start of the FY76 fiscal year.  Since these contractors were experienced FDNY firefighters, they were allowed to perform ancilliary duties … like forcible entry, search and rescue, laddering, and checking for fire extension between board-up assignments.

Somewhere within the infrastructure repairs, anti-terrorism, community emergency preparedness and (gasp) public health economic incentives there may be opportunities to preserve staffing to meet our core suppression mission.

AN UGLY FEW MONTHS

Metro cities will reveal their proposed FY2010 budget during the next few weeks.  It appears that some proposed budgets will include firefighter and police officer layoffs when FY10 starts July 01, 2009.

A few smaller municipalities may emulate Vallejo, California, and declare bankruptcy to negate existing labor agreements and pay plans.

This pressure will make some of us diamonds.  Firegeezer (Bill) and FossilMedic (Mike) will keep looking for diamonds-in-the-making as we endure this economic restructuring.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward
Diamond or Dust budget series

Earlier posts:

The Budget Process
Los Angeles Wants Citizen Input: Dec 18
A Cruel Fall (proposed LAFD budget cuts): Nov 09
How do you spread thin resources? : (Phila and FDNY cuts) Nov 06
The Voters Do Not Really Care …. (Seattle Medic One, Phila EMS and San Diego ): Oct 08
More Consolidation Looming In Indianapolis: Jul 30
Fiscal Forecast – Mostly Cloudy: Jul 15
It’s The New Fiscal Year: Jul 08
City of Vallejo Files Bankruptcy: May 07

Snapshots from around the nation
Sleep Carefully, Austin (MN):  Dec 26
Gary Goes Goofy Again (Indiana- staffing/contract compliance):  Sept 24
Residents Fight To Keep Firehouse (West Hartford, CT): Sept 24
Warren (MI) Fire Chief Taken Out Of Service: Sept 11
Florida County (Collier) Eliminates Ambulance Service To Some Areas: Sept 11
It’s Gone! It’s Back! It’s Gone Again! (Atlanta Fire Station 07): Jul 14
Bay City (MI) Moves To Eliminate Career FD: April 30

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on December 30, 2008 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, commentary, Funding & Staffing, Urban Commander
  • Dal90

    Connecticut’s four way trifecta:

    1) The overall slowdown — fewer people working, and fewer people even getting cost of living raises. That hits the income tax.

    2) Stock market crash.

    Connecticut does not have reciprocal tax treaties with New York or Massachusetts. The NY one is a biggie — the people who commute from Fairfield County to New York pay all their earned income taxes to New York, and none to Connecticut.

    What Connecticut can claim is the unearned income — such as capital gains on stocks. So Mr. Big Wig gets his multi-million dollar stock bonus…the initial bonus is taxed as income by New York, but future capital gains when he sold it is taxed by his residency in Connecticut.

    No capital gains…no income tax for Connecticut. And in good years we collect A LOT of capital gains from those commuters.

    3) Retail sales are down, so the sales tax is down.

    4) Connecticut has a Gross Receipts Tax on gasoline. It means we tax not only the gas, but the state and federal road taxes on the gas! To the tune of 7%. 7% of $1.50 is a lot less then 7% of $4.00.

  • Dal90

    Connecticut’s four way trifecta:

    1) The overall slowdown — fewer people working, and fewer people even getting cost of living raises. That hits the income tax.

    2) Stock market crash.

    Connecticut does not have reciprocal tax treaties with New York or Massachusetts. The NY one is a biggie — the people who commute from Fairfield County to New York pay all their earned income taxes to New York, and none to Connecticut.

    What Connecticut can claim is the unearned income — such as capital gains on stocks. So Mr. Big Wig gets his multi-million dollar stock bonus…the initial bonus is taxed as income by New York, but future capital gains when he sold it is taxed by his residency in Connecticut.

    No capital gains…no income tax for Connecticut. And in good years we collect A LOT of capital gains from those commuters.

    3) Retail sales are down, so the sales tax is down.

    4) Connecticut has a Gross Receipts Tax on gasoline. It means we tax not only the gas, but the state and federal road taxes on the gas! To the tune of 7%. 7% of $1.50 is a lot less then 7% of $4.00.

  • Dal90

    Just heard the latest budget deficit projection for the State of Connecticut…

    Remainder of this fiscal year, plus FY09/10 and FY10/11 (we kind of sort do bi-annual budgets in Connecticut)

    Six Billion.

    That’s $2,000 for every man, woman, and child.

  • Dal90

    Just heard the latest budget deficit projection for the State of Connecticut…

    Remainder of this fiscal year, plus FY09/10 and FY10/11 (we kind of sort do bi-annual budgets in Connecticut)

    Six Billion.

    That’s $2,000 for every man, woman, and child.