Nearly two weeks after Detroit announced it would lay off 164 firefighters because of budget issues, Fire Department officials received a $22.5-million federal grant check on Friday that will restore 108 firefighters.
U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke, a Detroit Democrat, presented the check from the Department of Homeland Security's Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program to Detroit Fire Commissioner Donald Austin.
Clarke also announced he was working directly with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expedite the payment of the grant to avoid layoffs, which were expected to take place by the end of the month.
Austin said he still has to formally accept the grant.
"This is probably the best news I've had since I've been here," Austin said after receiving the check. "This is going to be the beginning of a lot of change that will help the city and the residents and certainly the members of my department."
The grant will cover the salaries and benefits for the firefighters over two years. Austin said the department is also applying for another SAFER grant that has a filing deadline of July 16 and the Assistance to Firefighters grant that was filed Friday.
"Our goal is to get them an additional award that could be released as early as September so that the remainder of those firefighters that are slated for layoffs can be able to stay on the job," Clarke said.
The administration, Austin said, was in the process of identifying who would be laid off.
"There are 56 that will have to be laid off," Austin said. "But that number is shrinking every day because we have people that are actually separating."
The grant, Austin said, makes up a little more than 5% of the department's budget.
"Many municipalities are funded at some level by government grants at the federal level and like all things they could play out," Austin said. "One of the things we want to do is think of ways of generating revenue not only in the city but within the department through better fiscal controls and reaching for new revenue sources."
On Friday, the Taylor City Council won a victory in Wayne County Circuit Court seeking to get Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand to accept an $8.1-million SAFER grant that would restore 32 firefighters laid off in the past year.
Lamarand vetoed a council resolution to accept the grant because he questioned some of the costs associated with grant. The City Council voted to override the veto and later sued Lamarand.
City officials had until Sunday to accept the SAFER grant, said Taylor Fire Chief Bob Tompos. City Council officials filed for a 90-day extension.
Copyright 2012 - Detroit Free Press
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
