WESTFIELD – During the final budget hearing on Thursday evening, members of the Finance Committee met with the police department, fire department, information technology (IT) and emergency dispatch. Unlike Wednesday’s meeting, there seemed to be little opportunity to increase revenue or make changes in the budgets without impacting city services.
The police department, represented by Chief John Camerota and Captain Michael McCabe, which is the second largest in the city after the school department at $7,587,994, was asked by At-Large Councilor David Flaherty where there might be 2% room to decrease expenses or increase revenue.
“Year over year, we have increasing expenses. I don’t know where you’re going to get 2%,” said McCabe. He said the department has realized $120,000 in savings over the last three years in energy, fuel, technology and supplies.
“Many of our officers are used in other communities. We would love to train, but we have no facility, no parking,” said Chief Camerota.
Finance Committee chair Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr. noted that the fire department is building a new station with a training facility. He was referring to the Little River Road substation, funding for which was recently approved by the City Council.
“If the fire department is willing, we’d love to use it,” Camerota said.
Other suggestions for training sites included Westfield Gas & Electric, and the old state hospital, suggested by resident Matthew Roman.
While McCabe estimated the potential revenue from training at $100,000 annually, Camerota was more conservative, putting it at $10,000 after costs.
Camerota added that private funding for solar pedestrian signs is just about covered.
Fire Chief Mary Regan said the most significant change in her budget was moving overtime from the fire side into the ambulance side. She said everybody in the department is capable of serving on the ambulance team. Regan said 77% of the work at the fire department is EMS related assisting with medical calls, a percentage that was calculated in a state report from MassHealth last year.
Regan said there are currently two open positions in the fire department. One is for a firefighter/paramedic to replace a captain that retired, and one basic firefighter to replace one injured on duty. She said she would like to see both filled in the next few months.
Last year, the fire department increased to 15 firefighters plus one deputy chief and two captains per team, with four teams total. She said there were fewer injuries in the department over the course of the year.
“Could be attributed to having more people on shift, and work being spread around,” Regan said.
Regan said she had an engine in the budget this year, but the Mayor cut it. It was supposed to be replaced last year and split between the two departments. It would have been on a 5-year lease. The fire department has the third largest budget in the city at $5,706,320.
“We’ve been squeezed down as far as we can go,” Regan said. She said if the department could stop people from getting hurt, it would help. They have formed a group to bring trainers in for back strengthening and preventing other injuries. She said she currently has nine firefighters out, including two injured while on duty, two others on medical leave, one out on extended military leave, and the two unfilled positions.
“When I go below 15, that’s when overtime kicks in,” Regan said.
IT Manager Lenore Bernashe said her department’s budget is $23,000 lower than in 2015, at $1,360,836. The department currently has fourteen salaried employees and two hourly, all of whom received a 1% increase in salary this year. The department also has a part-time hourly employee position which saved 50% by employing an intern from the Westfield Technical Academy.
Bernashe said her department is fully staffed at present. IT covers the technology needs for the entire city, including the school, fire and police departments. 56% of their hours are spent on the school department, she said.
“We take care of everything that has a cord on it,” Bernashe said, adding that they also cover the network that helps the buildings communicate with each other.
“Knowing I’ve already cut it down 1.5%, I’ve already squeezed it down quite a bit,” she said, in response to the question of where 2% in cuts might be made. She has $10,000 in the budget for replacement equipment, which she called “very, very little.” She said they try to address one-third of the computers in the city every year.
Public Safety Communications Director John Medley presented the budget for emergency dispatch, which is slightly more than last year’s budget at $735,310. Medley said that overtime accounts for some of the increase. One dispatcher who was hired this year left “for greener pastures” after completing training, one is out for training, and another on Family Medical Leave, leaving the department short-handed. Medley said another dispatcher was hired on Thursday.
Flaherty grilled Medley about taking on dispatch services for surrounding communities, which he said was the original plan when the City Council voted to create the emergency dispatch centerat Barnes Municipal Airport in 2012.
Medley said there is no interest from surrounding communities for consolidation, because it is not cost effective, and they don’t want to lose local control. He said the state has not gone forward with its plan for regional centers.
