Carroll County, MD, Fire Chief, Volunteers Pushing for Budget Boosts

As Carroll County’s Department of Fire and EMS continues to grow, Fire Chief Michael Robinson says his team needs funding to support 12 more positions.

But an early version of the county’s budget, recommended by county staff this month, didn’t include funding for any of the 12 roles.

The requests included four lieutenants, who would serve as countywide training and safety officers, along with eight “floaters,” who would serve in various fire stations as needed in order to help cut down on overtime costs. In total, these 12 roles would add about $1.6 million to the fiscal year 2027 budget. The additions would represent 5.1% more paid positions over the current staff of 236 and a 4.3% increase over this year’s approximately $37 million total budget for fire and EMS.

“It’s a little bit more expensive to have floater [positions], but what we’re looking at is a workplace that helps our people,” Robinson said.

The county’s Position Review Committee, which determines whether to add funding for new positions into the budget, recommended that the county add funding for two of the lieutenant positions, which left Robinson feeling “optimistic.” These lieutenant positions will cost $248,670 each in the first year — including the cost of a new vehicle and other equipment — and about $161,000 each year after that.

The “floater” positions, which would each cost $147,000 annually, would help prevent the Department of Fire and EMS from holding its employees for mandatory overtime, Robinson said. In November, county budget director Ted Zaleski told the commissioners that the county was set to be $500,000 over budget in fire and EMS overtime costs.

On top of the additional staff positions, Robinson said the county department is requesting $274,000 for a commercial-grade shower in the battalion chief shift commander’s office. The project includes $231,000 in construction costs, which would allow the county to expand the existing building in order to make space. While Robinson acknowledged the cost is high, he said it was the cheapest option that a consultant landed on.

Carroll County’s recommended fiscal year 2027 budget includes $40 million in total for fire and EMS, including all costs for staff, benefits and technology. About $5 million of that will go to the volunteer association, a 3% budget increase, but the group says it needs more funding to deal with rising equipment costs.

Volunteer budget increase would cover fire engines

While the county-run department covers pay for full-time firefighters and paramedics, Carroll still relies on volunteers. The volunteer association owns all 14 of Carroll’s fire stations and most of its fire engines and ambulances.

Joe Dennis, the head of the volunteer association’s budget committee, also brought funding requests to Carroll’s board of commissioners last week.

“[Fire] engines used to cost, back in 2012, possibly $450,000,” Dennis told the commissioners at a meeting March 24. “They now cost $1.3 million, and that’s for a basic engine.”

Dennis asked for an additional $700,000 for the volunteer association.

Though the county has typically given the volunteers a 3% annual funding increase, he said the costs of replacing fire and EMS equipment has risen by at least 8% each year since 2020.

The county will have a surplus in property tax revenue this year, and budget director Ted Zaleski suggested earlier this month that the county could use that money to establish a revolving loan fund for fire stations to pay for new engines.

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