THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100481
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Responding to firefighters' call for increased staffing, Chesapeake city staff on Thursday recommended hiring 44 firefighting personnel over the next three years.
The recommendation comes with a price. City budget director Claude A. Wright said enough of the city's cash reserves will be eaten up by the hirings that a ``revenue enhancement'' or possible tax increase is imminent in the next several years.
``This we've known is coming,'' Wright told the council during a budget work session, ``and it's coming closer now.''
The council is working on the 1996-97 operating budget, and is expected to approve it at next week's council meeting. Nine firefighting personnel would be hired under this proposed budget without an increase in taxes or user fees.
But as the 35 other fire personnel are phased in over the next three years, the city's cash reserves will be greatly diminished. Under the proposed plan, cash reserves will total a scant $1.7 million in fiscal year 1998-99.
In addition, the hires would limit the city's ability to offer city employees a slim 1 percent pay increase in the next two budget years.
A number of options were offered to make up the difference, including increasing fees charged for using the city's 911 telephone service; creating a tax on cellular phone users; or taxing cable television.
There was little direct discussion about making up the difference. But interim City Manager Clarence Cuffee said that ``at some point, we're going to have to begin to talk about how to replace any revenues we use.''
Thursday's discussion was the result of a request last month by Chesapeake firefighters that they receive a boost in staffing.
These pleas were made in light of a March fire that resulted in the deaths of two Chesapeake firefighters. Some fire personnel argued that the deaths were related to a lack of staffing.
Chesapeake has three-person teams assigned to each fire engine. And although it has been said that other fire departments throughout the region assign four firefighters per vehicle, Chesapeake Fire Chief Michael L. Bolac told the council that Chesapeake has the same minimum staffing as every other department in the region.
But in the end, Bolac agreed that ``the piece we need most emphasis on is staffing. There's no question about it.''
The city's proposed 1996-97 operating budget, which currently provides pay raises for city and school employees, includes no new taxes or user fees.
The $428 million budget is 6.2 percent greater than last year's operating budget. The increase comes despite a slowdown in projected growth. Past growth averaged about 4 percent in population. However, growth last year slowed to 2.3 percent.
Despite the projected slowdown, the city's general fund revenues are proposed to increase by $18 million in this budget, thanks in part to shifting funds for new equipment and placing less money in emergency cash reserves.
Both school district and city employees would get an average 3.7 percent raise under the proposed budget. In addition, some city employees could get parity raises.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE BUDGET FIREFIGHTER by CNB