March 07--RICHMOND -- The $640,000 settlement the city had to pay when firefighters won a suit for unpaid overtime has put fire department $500,000 over budget, Richmond Mayor Jim Barnes said Tuesday during a city commission work session.
The mayor said he and interim City Manager Jimmy Howard had met with Fire Chief Buzzy Campbell earlier in the day, and he is working on a plan to contain his department's costs.
The fire department's budget for 2011-12 totals about $5.2 million, the mayor said.
A line-by-line review of the city's finances for the first quarter will be conducted in April, Barnes said, but commissioners will get monthly reports, as they did Tuesday.
Commissioners Donna Baird, Jason Morgan and Richard Thomas attended the meeting. Robert Blythe did not.
The commissioners discussed whether to revive the finance committee that included citizen members that had met monthly until late last year. Although they reached no consensus, Barnes said he favored having three outside members if the panel is revived.
The fire chief asked if he could begin charging a $125 fee to cover costs when the fire department is called to assist with a water flow test for new sprinkler systems.
He told of a recent test conducted by an engineer who charged his client $500 for reading gauges on a fire engine at the location and then offering an opinion.
The fee would be similar to that which the police department has begun charging to provide fingerprint cards.
Because City Attorney Garrett Fowles had said no formal approval from the commission was needed for the police to begin charging the service fee, the commissioners agreed that none should be needed for the fire department fee.
Recently, the police department began charging $20 to take fingerprints and provide up to two cards for individuals, most of whom were to be employed in security jobs, Police Chief Larry Brock said.
Because Richmond was perhaps the only city that did not charge for the service, individuals from around central Kentucky and even as far as Ohio came here for fingerprinting, he said.
The number of requests has trailed off since the fee was imposed, however.
Both Brock and Campbell assured Jeff Lainhart, a local security alarm contractor, that the ordinance set to be adopted March 13 imposing a fee after more than three false alarms are reported is aimed only at those "who abuse the system" by not properly maintaining their equipment.
Lainhart said false alarms may be generated as a system is being installed and again after it goes online.
Brock said firms that notify the 911 call center that a false alarm has been generated will not have that alarm charged against their clients.
Alarm systems do not directly dial the police department, Brock said.
Alarms alert a security firm, which first calls the owner and then the 911 dispatch center, he said.
The 911 service then dispatches police or fire departments was appropriate.
Last year, the city received about 2,200 false alarm calls with about 200 dispatching the fire departments, the two chiefs said.
Bill Robinson can be reached at [email protected] or at 624-6622.
Copyright 2012 - Richmond Register, Ky.
