Deficit May Result in Five Layoffs for Wash. FD

Dec. 19, 2013
The Riverside Fire Authority could lose up to six firefighters, five from layoffs, due to a $400,000 deficit.

Dec. 19--Riverside Fire Authority could lose up to six firefighters in 2014 -- one to retirement and five to layoffs -- as means of reducing a massive, unexpected budget deficit of more than $400,000.

"This is a fairly significant amount of lost revenue over a fairly short period of time," Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkowski told the Riverside Governance Board Wednesday night during its final meeting of the year. The six-person staff reduction would shrink the 27-firefighter force down to 21.

The 2014 budget shortfall Riverside Fire Authority faces is not unique: Riverside, like many other public agencies such as the Centralia School District, will be affected this upcoming year by the sudden and drastic depreciation of the state-assessed utility value due to TransAlta's future elimination of coal-fired power.

While cost-cutting efforts impacted other parts of the fire authority's budget, personnel costs make up 78 percent of the agency's total budget, the chief said.

"We have no option but to look at reduction in force," Walkowski said, adding, "We are basing this off of what we are being told from the county. I don't have any other alternative to give to the board."

The announcement came after a 45-minute executive session between the three Riverside chiefs and the governance board during the board's monthly meeting. The Riverside Governance Board unanimously voted to accept the budget.

Shortly after, more than a dozen Riverside firefighters who attended the meeting stood up and left the room.

"It is a little disheartening they would issue layoffs to the boots on the ground," Rick Leboeuf, the union president for Riverside firefighters, told The Chronicle after the meeting.

Especially, he said, since none of the administrators will lose their jobs.

"I think we understand the position that (the fire authority) is in, and we have been trying to work with administration to come to a resolve," Leboeuf said.

Usually, negotiations occur over several months, he said. This time, however, the news of the budget deficit came late in the year after the Lewis County fire chiefs met with the county assessor in November.

After that, the union and the administration only had three weeks to reach an agreement before the 2014 budget needed to be approved.

"There's more to come, and we are obviously going to sit down at the table again," Leboeuf said.

"We enjoy a great relationship with our fire chief and we hope to continue that," he added. "But there is only so much we can do on the backs of my members to resolve it."

The layoffs will not occur right away, as administrators are attempting to work with TransAlta, the Legislature and the county in an attempt to mitigate the shortfall, Walkowski said. The firefighters who may face a layoff in 2014 will be notified right away.

"We have been consistently impacted by external influences we have no control over," Walkowski told the governance board Thursday.

While the administration continues to work to mitigate the amount, Leboeuf said, the union will continue to work with the administration to try and avoid layoffs.

"We are not defeated on either side," Leboeuf said. "We will continue to work together and we just need more time to do that."

Walkowski said the merge of the Chehalis Fire Department and the existing fire authority will likely not be affected by the budget decrease. The city of Chehalis and Riverside Fire Authority both recently approved the next phase of the merge -- the functional consolidation -- which allows the agencies to work as one without combining the budget or workforce.

"Just because we are in this situation it does not mean that this should not go forward," the chief said.

Copyright 2013 - The Chronicle, Centralia, Wash.

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