It’s budget time and the DeKalb County Commission’s Budget Committee has been hard at work, and hearing from local department heads about their needs for the upcoming fiscal year.
At a budget meeting on Tuesday, April 22, DeKalb County Fire Chief Donny Green requested an allocation from the county’s capital projects fund to purchase either a new or used fire engine. At issue is the long-proposed Wolf Creek Public Safety building, which would provide needed fire protection to that area of the county.
Chief Green explained that with a new or used truck, the fire department would shuffle its fleet, stationing the best, most recent fire vehicles to stations with the most call volume.
“To be transparent, the newest station doesn’t always get the newest fire truck. We put them in line of succession so it would go to the next one (station) that’s due to get a newer truck, and then we shuffle them on down. That’s the way we have always done it, and that’s the fairest way to do it,” Chief Green told the committee.
“A new or used fire engine purchase to allow placement of an engine at the new Wolf Creek Station that is expected to be constructed within the next 12 months. Minimum allocation for a used fire engine is $250,000. Minimum allocation for a new/demo fire engine is $450,000. A decision to buy used or new is based on the following factors,” said Chief Green.
“We cannot obligate a hold on a used/demo fire engine unless funds are allocated. The demand is high for these fire engines and vendors will not put apparatus on hold without some form of obligation to purchase. Lead time on build of a new fire apparatus is at least 18 months,” he said.
Chief Green said another need is for allocating $250,000 in seed money previously committed for construction of a two-bay public safety building on property of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wolf Creek.
“We are in the process of negotiating an agreement with the Corps of Engineers for that building,” said Chief Green. “Based on current quotes, $231,000 should fund the proposed construction of a two-bay public safety building at Wolf Creek with the seed money that has previously been allocated. We request that the county roll the cumulative $250,000 in seed money from capital projects into the budget for this building,” said Chief Green.
Meanwhile EMS Director Trent Phipps is asking the budget committee to fund a new ambulance at $275,000, which if approved would not be expected to arrive for another two to three years.
“DeKalb EMS would like to secure the funds to purchase a new ambulance, “said Phipps. “With build times being approximately two years, it is important that we purchase the next ambulance as soon as possible. I am requesting $275,000 to purchase a new ambulance that meets the standards of the current fleet,” said Director Phipps.
The county is expected to take delivery this summer on another ambulance which was authorized for purchase and ordered during the 2022-23 budget year, but not yet paid for at $225,000. These two ambulance purchases ($225,000 for one on the way and $275,000 for a new ambulance) puts the total EMS local capital projects funding request at $500,000 for 2025-26.
Sheriff Patrick Ray also asked the budget committee to fund four new sheriff’s department patrol cars totaling $175,000. “I don’t yet know what the state bid will be for the vehicles, but we will fund the blue lights and emergency equipment for them out of the sheriff’s department maintenance budget,” said Sheriff Ray.
The budget committee has not yet acted on Tuesday night’s budget requests.
