WHEAT RIDGE — Things are looking up for the Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District now that money from a is shoring up the agency’s finances.
“I’ll be perfectly honest: It was a very difficult year, and I praise everyone for finding cost-cutting measures where they could,” said Fire Chief Bob Olme. “We hope to be caught up fairly quickly this year on maintenance; it’s important not to let that critical infrastructure get too far behind.”
In 2014 the district saw a
The district sought the mill-levy increase from roughly 32,000 property owners as demand for services increased, costs rose and the district struggled with a 2010 transition from an all-volunteer to a paid organization.
Meanwhile, revenue from property taxes — the fire protection district’s main source of income — stagnated. The district has a highly regarded response time of under 4½ minutes, something that could have been jeopardized had the mill levy not passed, Olme said.
“That’s one of the things few people realize: We’re at the pleasure, if you will, of property valuations,” he added.
Nine fully trained and certified firefighters who were working hourly last year being paid minimum wage have already been hired on as full-time employees with benefits.
Mike Long is one of those firefighters. He said he and other firefighters stayed on as minimum-wage employees with the hope district finances would change.
Once the board decided to place the mill levy question on last year’s ballot, firefighters hit the streets in a get-out-the-vote effort.
“It’s been a huge morale booster,” Long said of the mill levy passing. “We now have the ability to take care of our families. … Some of us would definitely have had to make a different decision if it didn’t pass.”
The 2015 budget is expected to jump from $3.1 million to $4.5 million and calls for getting caught up on $200,000 in fleet and building maintenance, starting a reserve fund with $500,000 while also budgeting for capital improvement projects.
Next month, two fleet vehicles will undergo comprehensive maintenance and repairs at neighboring West Metro Fire Protection District.
The district responded to 81 fires in 2014 and a total of 3,831 calls for service. Wheat Ridge has recently had a national insurance organization drop its rating from a 4 to a 2, placing the district in the top 1.5 percent of the country, said board member Monica Duran.
Having a low ISO rating reflects having infrastructure in place to respond to a myriad of emergencies and can lower insurance rates for property owners and businesses.
“We’re in a really good place to be right now,” Duran said. “We’re also doing a feasibility study on the pros and cons of merging with West Metro. We’ll get all that information back, see if it’s something positive for our department and address that with the public.”
Karen Hing served on a on how the district could streamline operations and save money.
She praised the district for the response times and recent ISO rating but lamented the fact leadership hadn’t seriously considered, let alone implemented, many of the panel’s recommendations.
“I just haven’t seen them bring in the professional type of talent with staffing I would have liked to have seen when it comes to administering the department,” Hing said. “There is a lot they don’t know they don’t know, and it’s an opportunity lost not bringing in administratively trained people.”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abriggs
