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Home My WebLink AboutFY 2022 Budget Presentation (Kauai Fire Department)KAUA`I FIRE DEPARTMENT FY 2022 BUDGET AND OPERATIONS SYNOPSIS Steven Goble Chief Department: FIRE Fund: GENERAL FUND 1. FY 2021 to FY 2022 BUDGET COMPARSION FY 2021 FY 2022 $ + / - % + / - Salary and Wages 17,863,966 17,708,361 -155,605 -0.9% Benefits 14,912,444 15,017,424 104,980 0.7% Utilities 221,714 221,714 0 0.0% Vehicle/Equip, Lease 985,029 890,129 -94,900 -9.6% Operations 1,990,471 1,980,881 -9,590 -0.5% 35,973,624 35,818,509 -155,115 -0.4% FY 2021 Operating Budget ■ Salary and 1% 3% Wages —40 ■ Benefits 50% Utilities 41% ■ Vehicle/Equip, Lease ■ Operations FY 2022 Operating Budget ■ Salary and 1 Wages Benefits 49% ■ Utilities 42% ■ Vehicle/Equip, Lease ■ Operations 1 The overall budget for the fire department decreased by $155,115.00. Personnel costs account for 91.36% of the overall budget with a year -over -year decrease of $50,625 in salary and benefit costs for FY2022. This modest decrease in personnel cost is largely due to top salary earners retiring at the end of 2020. Operational costs account for the remaining 8.61% with a year -over - year reduction of $104,490. Cost saving measures were implemented in the form of deferred purchases and reductions in professional services. 2. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN OPERATIONS BUDGET Service Demand The unprecedented onset of the COVID19 pandemic heavily impacted the number of visitors to Kaua'i. This decrease in visitors translated to a significant reduction in service demand, particularly in emergency medical responses. The resident related service demand such as fire responses showed a moderate increase. The call data shows fire operations responded to 5709 calls in 2020, an 18% decrease from the previous year. As the impacts of COVID19 slowly dissipate, we anticipate a return to an upward trend in service demand particularly in emergency medical calls. KFD FIRE OPERATIONS CALLS FOR SERVICE Incident Type 2019 2020 Trend Fire 327 361 9.42% Rupture/Explosion 4 4 0.00%- Medical/Rescue 5026 4062 -23.73% 40 Hazardous Condition 62 37 -67.57% Service Call 392 357 -9.80% 410 Good Intent 685 707 3.11% False Call 245 168 -45.83% Severe Weather 5 4 -25.00% 40 Other 1 9 88.89% TOTAL 6747 5709 -18.18 Ocean Safety Bureau services have experienced even greater impacts due to the coronavirus. Overall, beach visitor counts were down more than 66% with corresponding reductions in rescues, assists, and preventative actions. Beach attendance is largely driven by off -island visitors coming to enjoy time at the ocean. The Ocean Safety team has seen a slight upward trend in beach attendance with some visitors returning and anticipates that, as travel restrictions are lifted, visitors will return to beaches increasing demand for all ocean safety services. 2 Iff STMi i" wfil al r9:1 F.AT41 I V Trend Activity Type FY M19 FY2020 RESCUE 285 126 -126.19% ASSIST 41 47 12.77% =U PREVENTATIVE ACTION 137,592 771994 -76.41% 1 F I RST A I D / MINOR 41,483 1,679 -167.00% MAJOR MEDICAL 10 0 X PUBLIC CONTACT 224,757 179,052 -25.53% 1 JET SKI RESCUE 9 0 X t JET SKI ASSIST 5 0 X BEACH ATTENDANCE 2,336,541 1,399,569 -66.95% The Kaua'i Fire and Ocean Safety Department recognizes our obligation to our community and the important role it plays in Keeping people safe. The challenges brought by the unprecedented pandemic have caused us to reflect on how we can effectively and efficiently provide our vital services. The department has refocused its priorities to delivery of core services; emergency response, operational readiness, and community risk reduction. Through budget prioritization the department was asked to make non -personnel operating cost adjustments by reducing year over year costs in the amount of $ 95,916. The department has met this goal. The final FY2021 approved budget for non -personnel operational budget was $3,197,214. Our FY2022 proposal is $3,101,222 for a total reduction of $95,992. Departmental priorities going into FY22 Core Services — Kaua'i Fire and Ocean Safety will be focusing efforts on core service delivery directly impacting the health and safety of our community and responders. Key budget items to enhance service delivery include support for incident communications and operational readiness. These priorities are addressed within existing budget constraints and do not require additional money for the Fire Department budget. Incident Communications $110,000 Vital communications equipment is reaching end -of -life including aviation communications, handheld portable radios, and mobile radios for apparatus. Budget request supports purchasing of 1 aviation radio ($50,00), 5 portable radios ($41,00), and three mobile radios ($19,000). The mobile and portable radio purchases would be recurring each year until all radios are replaced. NOTE: Incident communication is the department priority for the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant. We have made application for possible grant award late in 2021. If 3 successful, this budget line will meet the funding match requirement of 10% to replace all frontline radios (1 Aviation, 50 portable, and 25 mobile). Operational Readiness $97,000 We have operational readiness issues with one of our brush trucks and one of our ocean response resources. The fire pump (skid unit) for the brush truck located at Hanapepe Station is in need of replacement. Mechanics continue to Ke'ep the unit functional but the pump and piping are becoming unrepairable. Cost to replace the unit is $37,000. The primary ocean response boat the western part of the island is a 26' 2007 Radon that is powered by two outboard motors. The outboards are at the end of service life and need replacing. The outboard are $32,500 each; total of $65,00 to replace both. Operational Changes —Training We have re-evaluated our training needs and delivery model to maximize efficiency. The training budget was cut deeply going into FY2021 including elimination of travel and reductions in available resources. Creative solutions have been explored to support training to maintain operational readiness. For FY2022 the training Bureau has made the following adjustments: • Sustain efforts to transition from overtime to on duty for mandatory training that can be accomplished in station and in small groups. • Move toward an instruction model that brings top instructors in to deliver training rather than sending personnel out. This model was proven to be successful in our hazardous materials and "Nozzle Forward" training delivered in 2020. • Minimize out of state training and conferences by implementing a "train the trainer" approach our goal is to send our instructors to conferences and training to bring back to the KFD. We then schedule on -island training sessions for the remainder of the Department. 3. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES Ocean Safety State funding for We beach lifeguards was eliminated as part of FY2021 budget cuts.Funding for four full-time and one part-time Ocean Safety Officers was sustained with Act 12 money ($490,152) for FY2021. To sustain operations at K2`2 beach for FY20 22, we estimate that $ 405,164 will be required. This is not currently budgeted. Impacted positions are 2531, 2532, 2533, 2534, and 10475. Fire Operations Recent retirements combined with existing vacancies have create 12 open positions within Fire Operations. There is an ongoing recruitment for Fire Fighter Trainees (entry-level Fire Fighters) to fill these existing vacancies. These vacancies will impact daily fire station staffing requiring increased movement of personnel, temporary assignment upgrades, and increased overtime to maintain effective response capabilities. These impacts will remain until recruits can be added and trained. 4 NOTE: The fire Department intends to seek grant funding to provide funding for these 12 vacancies through the DHS/FEMA Staffing for Adequate Fire and emergency Response (SAFER) Grant program. Deferred Items The Fire Department recognizes the challenging economic environment and has worked to prioritize budget requests to support core services. In an effort to contain costs and demonstrate fiscal restraint, the department has not put requests forward that are not urgently required. The items listed here need to be addressed but can be deferred to next year or beyond. Item Description Cost Disposition Lifeguard Public Three lifeguard towers need public $10,500 Deferred — KLA potential Address System address systems funding Lifeguard Tower for Wanini Beach is guarded using a roving $90,000 Deferred — KLA potential Wanini pickup truck. funding Furniture, Fixtures, Mattresses for fire stations are more than $85,000 Deferred and Equipment 12 years old $35,000 Deferred — Grant candidate Backup Generator 25 KW Backup Generator for Lihue Fire Station Exhaust Capture Health and Safety issue for firefighters - $240,000 Moved to CIP Systems requires source capture system all stations PPE Lockers To store and protect turnout gear at each $30,000 Deferred — evaluate "sweat station (Cancer Prevention) equity" alternatives Furniture, Fixtures, 3 commercial kitchen stoves for station $15,000 Deferred and Equipment replacement. Brush Truck — Fire Truck 5 fire pump (skid unit) is due for $37,000 Deferred — seeking grant Pump replacement. funding In addition, the vehicle fleet will need to be addressed going forward. The department has elected to defer replacing vehicles for FY22. Future needs for frontline vehicles are identified in the table below. Vehicle Description Projected End of Service Life 2008 Pierce Velocity Engine 5 2020 2009 Pierce Velocity Engine 6 2021 2006 Pierce Lance HazMat 8 2018 2009 Ford F550 Truck 6 2021 1999 Ford F-150 Assigned to Training Bureau 2011 2005 Ford Expedition Assigned to Prevention Bureau 2017 2005 Ford F-150 Assigned to Prevention Bureau 2017 2007 Ford Explorer Assigned to Training Bureau 2019 2008 Ford Explorer Assigned to Training Bureau 2020 2009 Toyota Highlander Assigned to Fire Admin 2021 5 4. TOP OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY 2020 Strategic Plan The Fire Department engaged the services of Playbook Consultants for strategic planning in FY 2021. The vendor coordinated a deep -die process to understand the departmental needs and direction for the next five years. The entire workforce was engaged in the process through surveys, in -person engagement, and working group participation. Other stakeholders including County leadership, County departments, and external partner agencies were brought in to the process to establish a clear understanding of the Fire Department. This process culminated in a comprehensive blueprint for advancing the service delivery and culture of the Kaua'i Fire Department. Operational Readiness In December, 2020 a new piece of fire apparatus was delivered to the island. Water Tender 1 was placed into service at the Lihue Fire Station. This new apparatus was designed and built specifically to support fire operations in areas with limited water supply. The water tender holds 2000 gallons of water and is equipped to support fire operations in wildland, commercial, and residential environments. Community Risk Reduction The COVID19 pandemic severely limited the ability of the Fire Department to engage in traditional community risk reduction activities. One example of this is the outreach efforts directed towards children in Kauai schools. The Prevention Bureau came up with a creative solution through utilization of multimedia and its Facebook page. The team coordinated with the crews at Kaiakea Fire Station to produce a virtual tour for kids. The team incorporated use of drone, audio/visual, and other technologies to create an engaging look at life in the fire station. There is even a cameo appearance by Sparky the Fire Dog. This is one example of finding ways to stay involved with the community. Figure 1: https://www.facebook.com/Kaua'iFD/videos/743643056540955/ 11