A plan is in the works that could save Jacksonville fire stations from having to close down.
As part of the ongoing budget talks, JFRD said meeting the cuts put on them would require them to close down three stations and cut some positions. It also looked like they may not get to update some of the aging fleet vehicles- which some Council members see as a cost in amongst themselves.
“They’ve got vehicles that are well beyond their use, well beyond their economic life span,” says Councilman Robin Lumb.
Lumb, along with Councilwoman Lori Boyer and Councilman Stephen Joost, are putting together a proposal to prevent the cuts.
JFRD believes they will be bringing in more revenue this year than what the budget proposal submitted by the Mayor recommended. The Council Auditor’s Office has been working with JFRD over the past few weeks and they agree that it’s reasonable to expect the department will bring in about $2.3 million more than what was initially projected.
“We’ve been really challenged everywhere we look to make sure that we are both projecting revenue and expenses correctly, and if this was an opportunity where we could really document and come to agreement that we had under-projected revenue which gave up this flexibility to keep our service level intact and provide the new vehicles, it’s just a win,” Boyer says.
JFRD says they’ve been able to more accurately account for and bill service calls, which is bringing the revenue bump.
“This solves the problem comprehensively for this year,” says Lumb.
Increasing the revenue projection will let JFRD keep the stations open and staffed, according to these councilmen. It will also allow them to work on updating their fleet of ladder trucks and ambulances.
A vote on this action will come Tuesday, along with the other amendments which will be offered with the final budget itself. WOKV will be at City Hall all Tuesday as the votes come in, stay with us on-air, online and on Twitter for updates