Valley Fire expecting budget drop

Spokane Valley Fire Department budget next year is expected to drop nearly 4 percent to $30.3 million in large part because the department has no building projects planned for next year.

Fire commissioners got a first look at the department’s 2013 budget this week during a special meeting.

This year the department completed the construction of a new administration building and is in the process of rebuilding Station 6.

There had been some discussion of buying a new ladder truck next year, but it is not in the budget, said Fire Chief Mike Thompson. “Based on our use and where we are on miles, we think it can be held out for a couple more years,” he said.

It’s possible the department will buy two new brush trucks for $100,000, but that hasn’t been finalized, Thompson said.

While the 2012 budget did not include pay increases, the 2013 budget includes a .6 percent pay increase for firefighters working 24 hour shifts and a 1.6 percent increase for all other employees.

The department also expects to hire several new firefighters next year to replace retiring firefighters, Thompson said. So far seven people have confirmed they will retire in 2013. “We expect there could be two or three more,” he said. “It’s not an increase in cost. Financially the numbers are just about a wash.”

The department will hold two public hearings on the proposed budget in November after the numbers are finalized. Thompson said the department plans to be conservative with the levy money recently reapproved by voters for the next three years.

“We’re going to be tight with expenditures,” he said. “That’s the game plan for next year and the two years after that.”