Board approved budget and raise

Seeley Lake Fire Board

SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire Board approved the 2018-2019 budget and a pay raise for District Administrator Lynn Richards at their Aug. 21 meeting.

Seeley Lake Fire Chief Dave Lane presented the board with next year’s budget. Last year’s budget was $45,000 over in total expenses. They had a surplus of $128,000 and used $45,669 to make up the difference.

Lane explained that the District overspent two-thirds of the line items. He eliminated that problem for this year but couldn’t tell the board why it was overspent last year since he was not here.

Vice Chair Gary Lewis asked how the over budget items were paid since they were so many things that were over budget.

Lane said that because there was $85,000 in surplus from the fires and EMS calls were $34,000 above expected. Chair Scott Kennedy added that without the purchase of the Type 6 Engine, the budget was even, it just came from different categories. The new engine was purchased out of the capital acquisition fund that had money to cover the expense.

Lewis said he sees “a lot of red lights” in the 2018-2019 budget. “If you have an actual and the budget the next year is less than the actual, that is an instant red light.”

Lane responded to specific line-item questions from Lewis. When he started there were major repairs to many of the vehicles that had been neglected. Almost $10,000 was spent correcting problems with the command vehicle. The department was lacking equipment required by EMS standards in the DOT curriculum that needed to be purchased as well as $1,300 in narcotics. The board also approved new contracts for waste disposal which saves the District money.

Lane added that he and District Administrator Lynn Richards went through every line item from last year and looked at where the money was spent. Many of the purchases and expenses from last year will not need to be spent again this year.

“I understand where you are going with that and all the repairs we have made and as long as we have the money to do it,” said Lewis. “I just needed to understand what was going on [and why things looked so different]. Now that I understand what is going on, I think [Lane] should be applauded for all the work he has done.”

The board approved the budget unanimously. Lane will give the board quarterly budget reports so they know how much is in the budget, how much is spent and “my goal is to not overspend.”

The board discussed pay raises for the three paid employees at the district. Raises were accounted for in the proposed budget.

The board unanimously agreed to leave the facility maintenance/logistics manager position at $11.83 per hour until someone is hired permanently into the position. Kody Kelley is currently in the position as a temporary employee. The application process is currently open until Aug. 30. Visit the website seeleyfire.org or call the department 406-677-2400 for more information on how to apply.

Lewis motioned Richards receive a $1 per hour raise.

“She’s has had to train our new chief and the last chief and I think she’s earned a little extra,” said Lewis.

The board unanimously approved.

Chief Lane still has seven months left of his probation period. The board discussed giving him a raise.

“The station is totally better, he’s corrected safety issues and violations…and changed the whole mood of the department. That has value to me,” said Kennedy

Board member Rita Rossi added that he has saved the District a lot of money and fixed a lot of things that were broken.

Richards and Kelley added that he is great to work with.

Kennedy motioned to give Lane a $5,000 raise.

“We’ve hired a good chief, we got him, we are going to keep him,” said Kennedy.

Richards pointed out that $18,000 was paid in overtime last year. Interim Chief Michael Greer was $15,900 in overtime and she received $2,400 in overtime from November – May.

Lewis appreciates all the good work Lane has done and he said has made considerable changes that are extremely valuable to the department and he is a valuable employee. However, he said giving Lane a raise when he isn’t half way through his probation is not reasonable and a 10 percent raise is too much. Lewis suggested they revisit the discussion again when he is half way through his probation next month.

Kennedy’s motion died due to a lack of a second. The board agreed to discuss the raise at their September meeting.

In other business:

• The District received a Montana Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) Grant for $1,500.

The next meeting will be Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Fire Hall Station 1. For agendas and past minutes visit seeleyfire.org.

 

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