By Rusty Bradshaw
Independent Newsmedia

On the scale of budget increases, the Sun City Fire District’s proposed 2017-18 spending plan will seem like a feather barely brushing skin.

The district’s budget for next fiscal year was revealed for the first time during a special board of directors meeting May 9. Spending in the district’s general fund is expected to increase by $44,504 — a 0.4 percent increase. It is only the third time since the 2008-09 budget year district officials proposed a budget larger than the previous year.
“We are in pretty good shape financially for the coming year,” said Ron Deadman, Sun City assistant chief.

However, fire officials continue to find ways to save on expenses as a legislative funding reform does not seem likely, according to Mike Thompson, Sun City fire chief.

“The Legislature does not seem to want to help,” he told Sun City Posse members during their May 2 meeting. “They seem more interested in passing laws to push us toward mergers with other districts.”

To that end, district officials contracted with Gabe Buldra, district finance officer, to study the feasibility of merging the Sun City district with the Daisy Mountain Fire District.

“That may or may not happen; we are just studying it to see if it would be beneficial for both districts,” Mr. Thompson said.



Sun City and Daisy Mountain officials are participating in intergovernmental agreements for shared staffing, purchasing and ambulance billing, moves that are already showing some savings.

2017-18 budget

Sun City Fire District officials were expected to consider the budget for tentative adoption at their regular business meeting May 16. Results of that meeting were not available at press time.

Mr. Buldra said the 2017-18 budget is balanced — meaning revenues match expenses — and calls for $11.4 million in expenditures for fire department operations. That is slightly up from the 2016-17 budget of $11.3 million. This is the first budget cycle in which the Sun City district has separate fire and medial budgets.

“This is a tight but balanced budget, and we are meeting all community needs,” Mr. Buldra said.

While district officials will lose a significant portion of revenue when the SAFER grant expires at the end of 2017, additional income from ambulance operations and budget savings will ensure the fire department does not experience a staffing shortage.

“We will only have six months of the SAFER grant left, but we will maintain all those positions,” Mr. Buldra said.

The SAFER grant funded 12 additional firefighters for a two-year period.

Line item increases in the budget proposal are 5 percent for tax revenue, 7.3 percent for personnel, 1.1 percent for administration, and 21.3 percent for fire prevention. Line item decreases include 30.2 percent in non-tax revenue (mostly the SAFER grant), 17.2 percent in buildings and equipment, 17.5 percent in training, 0.2 percent in communications and IT services and a whopping 86.5 percent in professional services.

“The decrease in professional services is the $499,000 we set aside for the unfunded PSPRS liability,” Mr. Buldra explained. “We won’t have that expense in the future because we will be paying the actual cost, which is built into the budget.”

District officials are seeing less repair and maintenance costs due to newer equipment having been purchased and the shared maintenance IGA, according to Mr. Buldra.

The general fund will also be the beneficiary of about $389,000 in additional funds transferred from the ambulance operations budget.

“The ambulance is operated as a profit, but those funds exceeding operating expenses will be transferred to the district general fund,” Mr. Buldra said.

The district’s ambulance budget is a bit misleading as it shows an increase in all line items. However, that is because the 2017-18 fiscal year will be the first full year of ambulance operations. Sun City began running its own ambulances in October 2016.

The ambulance proposed budget calls for $1.382 million in expenditures, with the same amount of projected revenue.

Ongoing expenses

As the current fiscal year winds down, fire officials are dealing with some unexpected costs.

Mr. Deadman reported insurance will cover replacement of some items stolen — permanently borrowed, as he put it — from Station 131, 17017 N. 99th Ave. Replacement of saws was estimated at about $5,000 and other extraction equipment at about $36,000.

There were also 10 sets of turnouts — firefighters’ protective clothing — taken in the heist, but those will be replaced as part of a planned program drawn out over a short period of time, the chief added.

“I expect to replace within the year a second set of turnouts for 64 people,” said Capt. Jason Casey, in charge of the replacement program.

He explained that several years ago department officials began replacing the turnouts on a rotating basis so they all did not expire at the same time. Turnouts have about a 10-year life span, which depending on care and exposure to certain elements could be as short as seven years, Mr. Casey explained.

“Some things wear out sooner than others,” he said. “But we are taking steps with storage at the stations to extend the life of these items to closer to the 10-year span.”

A full set of turnouts — including boots, pants, coat, helmet and other pieces — is about $3,000.

District officials are also waiting for insurance approval for repairs to an ambulance that was involved in a traffic accident when a vehicle struck it at 111th and Florida avenues while responding to a call with lights and sirens operating.