West Manatee Fire Rescue administrators are holding the line on assessments for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
In a preliminary budget workshop April 17, board commissioners and WMFR administrators met to evaluate the fire district’s financial needs for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Battalion Chief Ben Rigney presented commissioners with a budget for the coming year, including an expense increase just under $1,250,000.
“We were able to make the numbers work,” he said of constructing a budget without a tax hike. But he said an increase in property-owner assessments likely would be necessary to compensate in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Commissioners debated whether the rate hike should instead be distributed more evenly in the 2018 and 2019 budgets to minimize taxpayer impact.
The rates will be discussed at another budget workshop set for 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at the administration building, 6413 Third Ave. W., Bradenton.
The budget anticipates the district’s assessment revenue will stay the same, at $6,909,755. Interest income will rise by $5,000 and grant income will fall by $180,000.
However, because of new construction and development within the district, which increases the assessment of vacant property, revenue may go up, Rigney said.
Any difference would be covered by the district’s reserves.
The plan is to tap into the reserve fund for $1,530,000, which almost entirely covers $1,564,607.28 in capital outlay expenses.
However, Rigney said the district also would gain revenue from the sale of the administrative building, set to be finalized in May, diminishing the impact on the reserves and allowing the district to settle an $850,000 note.
The majority of capital expenses is $1 million to obtain a new administration building, but Rigney said the district still isn’t sure of the cost.
Chief Tom Sousa said the district should host a workshop in June on options for the district, including leasing administrative offices, owning property or buying a plot of land and constructing a new admin building.
The district also budgeted $315,000 for self-contained breathing apparatuses, devices that allow firefighters to breathe when entering a smoke-filled building.
Another $40,000 each is budgeted for two vehicles and a defibrillator monitor.
In the capital expenses, WMFR allocated $84,607.28 to a savings account to replace Engine 131 by 2021. The engine has been in service for 17 years, Sousa said.
Rigney said the district likely would designate at least another $300,000 in the 2019-20 fiscal year toward the new engine. The maximum cost for a fire engine is about $650,000, Sousa said, but he expects to obtain one for “much less.” The most recent engine cost $480,000, Sousa said April 20.
Personnel expenses will rise about $144,000, Rigney said, from $5,643,114.18 to $5,787,436.90.
The district is waiting on a final audit to finish the budget, Sousa said.