After surviving a tumultuous financial year due to a failed levy, East Pierce Fire and Rescue plans to return to full strength by the end of 2017.
Within this year’s budget, which was approved by the department’s Board of Commissioners Nov. 20, are plans to increase staffing levels and minimum staffing by hiring firefighters, recruiting more volunteer firefighters, increasing community outreach events and bringing information technology staff back to normal levels.
The budget expects a 7 percent increase in revenue this year, totaling more than $23 million.
Expenditures tally to just more than $23.6 million, resulting in a $500,000 budget shortfall that EastPierce plans to cover with money that rolls over from 2015 to 2016.
This rollover fund, called the beginning fund balance by East Pierce, is typically used to tide fire departments over until taxes are collected in the spring.
In the past, nearly 30 percent of East Pierce’s total budget rolled over into the next year.
In 2016, only 20 percent of the budget will roll over, a reduction of nearly $2 million from the previous year.
Fire Chief Bud Backer gave an additional $500,000 to the beginning fund balance, money that was not spent from last year’s operations budget.
The total rollover money that will be available for the department to use for the first four months of the year is $5.1 million.