Funding stretched thin, Chattanooga Fire Chief says

On the second day of city budget hearings Thursday, Chattanooga Fire Chief Wendell Rowe said his department is trying to operate on stretched funding, but it needs more administrative staff.

“I am well aware of the need to operate on limited public dollars,” Chief Rowe said. “But now a time has come where innovation, maximizing resources and providing top services is being dangerously spread.”

The Chattanooga Fire Department has proposed a budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year of $27.6 million — which is no increase from the current fiscal year.

“I think to keep you to a zero budget is absurd,” Councilwoman Carol Berz said.

The Personnel Department and Parks and Recreation Department also presented their requested budgets Thursday morning. The City Council began hearing budget presentations from city departments this year in an effort to better understand funding needs, Councilwoman Linda Bennett has said.

City Chief Financial Officer Daisy Madison has said officials are planning for a lean fiscal year in light of difficult economic times and lower revenue growth.

During the presentation, fire officials said the department is trying to deal with various expenses, including higher fuel costs and unfunded federal mandates. Also, Chief Rowe said, the department needs more administrative staff.

But he said he is pleased with the job firefighters are doing.

“We are providing high-quality service,” he said. “We are keeping up with the industry.”

Later, Department of Parks and Recreation officials spoke about a proposed budget that is basically flat — with only an 0.3 percent increase over this fiscal year’s budget, according to a city budget document.

Kevin Brady, director of parks, showed city officials a slide show with photographs of dilapidated park facilities. The images included those of a cracked and raised sidewalk and a broken handrail.

“I’ve got a list of priority repairs that would absolutely astound you,” he said.

Mr. Brady said it would be financially prudent for the department to perform more small fixes to parks infrastructure.

“I think we could save money in the long run,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Berz said she thinks the department should have more funding for youth programming, and she asked Parks and Recreation officials for projections of costs to provide more services in that area.

“Don’t hold back,” she said. “We can always cut.”

Also Thursday, city Personnel Director Donna Kelley discussed a budget that includes $160,000 for contracted training services. She said outside the meeting that this new allocation would be in addition to the current $25,000 item for in-house instruction.

She said the contracted training would be for career development for labor and trades employees and for police.

WHAT’S NEXT

Department administrators continue their budget hearings before Chattanooga City Council members Monday morning in the council’s committee room at 1000 Lindsay St. Here is the schedule:

* Human Services and Finance Department — 9 a.m.

* General Services Department — 10 a.m.

* Neighborhood Services Department — 11 a.m.

BUDGET REQUESTS

City departments have submitted their budget proposals for the upcoming 2008-09 fiscal year, which starts July 1. Here are the requests from the three departments that presented Thursday, along with comparisons to their current fiscal year budgets:

* Fire: requested $27,604,390 (no increase from current budget)

* Personnel: requested $7,065,831 (3.4 percent increase from current budget)

* Parks and Recreation: requested $11,430,657 (0.3 percent increase from current budget)