Tammy Grubb
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
(TNS)

Chapel Hill may have to raises taxes this year to start paying for over $60 million in critical needs, repairs and core services.

The backlog is one of three “hard truths” that the town has to face in planning its budgets over the next five years, Interim Town Manager Chris Blue and senior town staff told the Town Council at Saturday’s annual retreat.

Blue noted the town is failing to provide employees with the resources to do their jobs and to pay them competitive wages, as well as meet the critical affordable housing need.

“It may seem like our needs are overwhelming, and in some respects, they are,” Blue said.

“None of what we’re talking about here is extravagance. These are essential needs,” he said. “I look at our budget adds and expansion requests from year to year. There’s no gold-plated toilets in there.”

Chapel Hill, like many other governments, is not seeing its revenues keep up with the rising cost to provide services, staff said. Amy Oland, business management director, noted the consumer price index, which measures the cost of goods and services, is up 8.6%.

Staff burnout and turnover also is high, staff said, as employees leave to seek better pay and homes they can afford in other communities.

The town’s services are also showing cracks, they said, with nine of the town’s 16 garbage trucks recently taken off the road for repairs, and 60 out of 80 police vehicles due for replacement. Police cars last an average of three to four years, Blue said.

In addition, three of the town’s five fire stations no longer meet firefighting needs, fire trucks are being taken off line for repairs, and the town still needs a new training facility, Chapel Hill Fire Chief Vence Harris said. He noted that Station 4 on Weaver Dairy Road Extension was shut down in October and November, because four of its eight trucks were being repaired.

Tax rate increases, town priorities

Staff presented a few options, including one that would raise $11 million over five years by implementing a 4-cent per $100 valuation tax rate increase next year, followed by 1.5-cent increases in each of the following four years.

The town’s tax rate is now 52.2 cents per $100 in property value, amounting to a $2,088 town tax bill for the owner of a $400,000 home. An additional penny on the current rate raises about $958,000 for the town and costs the owner of a $400,000 home an extra $40 a year.

Staff also offered less ambitious plans, including one that would meet roughly $5 million in parks, vehicles and facility needs with a 5.65-cent tax rate increase over five years.

A third plan would raise roughly $1.3 million over five years for parks and affordable housing, by requiring only a 1.3-cent tax rate increase this year.

“We just can’t keep putting things off,” Blue said. “We have significant backlogs of unmet needs, from police cars and playgrounds to fire trucks and frontline staff, and we’ve really got to start taking some decisive action.”

The proposed plan would spend at least $9 million over the next five years to:

▪ Attract and retain quality employees: The town needs to offer fair and equitable wages and a better work/life balance, Blue said. Employees also need reliable equipment to do their jobs.

Backlog: $1 million for employee recruitment and retention and $3.2 million to add new positions

Five-year spending goal: $2.5 million

▪ Provide core services: The cost is rising, and the town is running out of one-time pandemic recovery funds that have paid for technology needs and programs. Town departments have already cut the fat from their budgets, Blue said.

Backlog: $6.8 million

Five-y

The Darien Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night will discuss and possibly take action on a request from the Noroton Heights Fire Department for an appropriation and bonding resolution in the amount of $825,415 for a new fire engine, patch.com reported.

The new vehicle would be used for fire suppression and water supply for commercial and residential structure fires, according to a funding request summary submitted to the town by the department, the report said. It will also be the department’s primary engine for any alarm in a dwelling.

The current Engine 23 is 33 years old, according to the report. A refurbishment would cost $300,000, but would not have brought the vehicle up to current safety standards, fire officials said in documents submitted to the town, the report said.

In November 2022, the board of selectmen approved an appropriation request and bonding authorization of $2 million from the Darien Fire Department, paving the way for the purchase of a brand new heavy rescue truck that fire officials say is needed, the report said.

Gage Miskimen
The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
(TNS)

Feb. 5—

Background:

Initially, after the new Marion Fire Department Headquarters opened in the summer of 2021 — the city’s first new fire station in 30 years — there were plans to find land and get started on building a fourth fire station in the northeast corner of the city.

However, when Fire Chief Tom Fagan presented the department’s 18-month plan to the Marion City Council in November, he said he planned to make the relocation of Fire Station 3 a top priority in the next couple of years.

Fagan noted coverage gaps in the southern portion of the city. He worked with the city’s geographic information analyst Rachael Murtaugh to identify areas in the city needing improved coverage and compared them to areas where vulnerable populations live.

Fire Station 3, which was built in 1964, was scheduled for a $500,000 renovation, but that funding could be reallocated to help pay for a new building, Fagan said.

At the same time, the city still is looking for a place to build Fire Station 4 in northeast Marion, which also has a coverage gap.

A 2015 accreditation study found the city, whose population grew by nearly 20 percent between 2010 and 2020, needs four fire stations. The fourth fire station would be built near Highway 13 and 35th Avenue.

In 2020, the Marion City Council approved spending $1.1 million for the fourth station land and training facility. The city budgeted $400,000 for the station project, with the Marion Firefighters Association contributing $695,000 for the training facility, largely through a trust fund set up by Don and Ruth DeVault.

What’s happened since?

Fagan said planning for a relocated Station 3 is preliminary.

“Right now, we’re running studies and looking at opportunities for land. There’s still quite a bit of work that needs to be done,” he said. “Right now, it’s not an approved CIP project and once it is approved, we’re looking at a three-year process with design and construction.”

There are no prospective locations right now, but Fagan said the new station needs to be built south of the current Station 3, which is located at 600 Eighth Ave. Currently, southern Marion is densely residential and finding a space that works without affecting traffic and neighborhoods is a top priority.

Fagan also said it’s his goal to decrease operating costs with a new facility. The early cost estimates for a new Station 3 are around $8.2 million.

“With the new facility, we would look into where we can decrease operating expenses with alternative fuel and solar, which is a smart long-term investment for our taxpayers to reduce financial burden,” he said. “The existing Station 3 was being looked at for refurbishing in the coming years, so if we’re looking at wise investments, is it smarter to relocate and optimize the deployment?”

The design would most likely include three drive-through fire apparatus bays, each of which would be bigger than the bays at the current Station 3. The living quarters and office space in the building would be smaller than the space at the new headquarters, Fagan said.

Murtaugh created a social vulnerability index for Marion, which takes the 2020 census data looking at poverty level, dependent age, transportation access, racial and immigration status and other socioeconomic factors that can increase financial and disaster hardships.

“Then that’s where we overlay the fire department’s geographical coverage gap over that vulnerability index,” Murtaugh said. “When I brought it to other c

Jorge A. Vela
Laredo Morning Times, Texas
(TNS)

Feb. 5—After several months of being closed down, the El Cenizo Fire Department recently opened its doors once again.

Last weekend, El Cenizo Mayor Carina Hernandez and other city officials met with the new board members of the El Cenizo Volunteer Fire Department, a local non-profit organization, to discuss the importance of rebuilding it and regaining the public’s trust.

Hernandez said the meeting helped show how both city entities will work together to be productive and have good working relationships to ensure the city provides fire suppression and first response services to El Cenizo.

Hernandez said she learned a lot during the first board meeting and also about the lack of resources that the fire department has suffered within the past few years.

“It was disturbing to know that our volunteers were not provided the basic support for training costs and fuel to ensure the operability of the first response vehicles,” Hernandez said.

The mayor wants to ensure that the fire department is fully furnished and ready to be used when needed. She hopes to have it completely ready within the next few months of her administration as they get a good inside look at what is needed.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, but our primary goal is to ensure that the department is furnished for the volunteers to be able to properly conduct their business and training,” Hernandez said. “In the coming weeks, we will meet with law enforcement agencies to establish a collaborative working relationship and improve the credibility of the department so that doors of opportunity aren’t closed on us anymore.”

The new mayor said that she and her new administration intend to provide the municipal and voluntary fire department with all it needs necessary in efforts to get things done. She said that supporting them with the resources necessary is the very least the city can do, as it does not have the full potential to hire a full-time firefighter because of the lack of revenue that the city sees.

“I’m committed to ensuring that we support our first responders with resources necessary for them to bravely serve our community in their time of need,” Hernandez said. “We owe it to them to be supportive and responsive. Many small communities like El Cenizo depend on volunteer fire departments because of the small revenue stream that doesn’t allow for us to have full-time paid firefighters.”

One of the items agreed upon was to finalize a detailed inventory of all the items located in the fire station. From there, the mayor said they will assess the amount of money that will be necessary to refurbish the station and ensure that it is equipped to be open and operational to the public.

“We hope for the department to be a place where people can go and visit if they have concerns, want to check their glucose or blood pressure as well and be referred to health care providers if needed,” Hernandez said. “I take public safety seriously, and I am committed to ensuring that public safety and the well-being of our residents remain a top priority of mine and the City Council.”

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