1.13.10
City looks at fire class

Training recruits is an option for using new tax money
By: Doug Caruso - www.dispatch.com
Columbus has enough money left over from last year to pay for a new class of fire recruits this year, thanks to the city's income-tax increase.

Both the Police and Fire divisions expect to lose personnel to retirements in 2011. When Mayor Michael B. Coleman proposed his 2010 budget in November, he said he wanted to train 50 police recruits starting in February.

At the time, there was no money to train new firefighters.

Now, City Council members have nearly $3.3 million more to work with as they prepare their budget amendments.

That's how much City Auditor Hugh J. Dorrian said carried over from last year after the city put $15 million in its rainy-day savings account.

"Absent the tax increase, this money wouldn't be there," he said. "A fire class would be a very, very eligible expenditure, but that will be the decision of the council and the mayor."

A fire class is high on the council's wish list, said council member Andrew Ginther, who leads the finance and safety committees.

"A fire class is my top priority, and a number of council members have talked to me about that being a top priority of theirs," he said.

Council members also are interested in boosting new jobs and recreation programs, Ginther said, and there could be enough money to do more than one thing.

He said the Department of Public Safety also is seeking federal money to help train more firefighters.

Ginther estimated that a fire class would cost $1.8 million to $3 million, depending on how it is set up.

The cost of a fire class depends on how many recruits the city hires and when the class starts. Some classes start late in the year so the city can split the cost over two budget years.

The training academy on Parsons Avenue can accommodate as many as 60 recruits per class, said Battalion Chief David Whiting, a Fire Division spokesman.

He said training takes seven months. That would mean the city would have to bring in a new class in June to be ready by the time the biggest wave of retirements hits in January.

Starting a class of 60 in June would cost a little less than $3 million, Whiting said.

"Our ideal situation would be to start a class in April and then start another class in the late fall," he said. "We'd still be in the hole going into 2011, and we'd need another class in 2011."

The division already is 35 firefighters below its authorized strength of 1,525, Whiting said. The division is expecting 75 retirements next year.

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