City Manager Judith Gilleland opened the latest City Council Work session, which dealt with the Fire Department by introducing the panel and summarizing their goal, which was to find “scenarios that would not reduce service, but would reduce costs” by stating that “consensus could not be reached on the most appropriate model to deliver services and achieve a substantial cost savings for the City.”  She immediately added that “while we are not necessarily here tonight to discuss additional revenue sources, we did include increasing revenue as an option to be considered.”  “One viable way of increasing revenues is to place another levy on the ballot” Gilleland added.

See the full update here on the April 16, 2013 Middletown City Council Meeting

YA KNOW, IF THE CITY FIRE OPERATION WAS THIS CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF THE FINANCIAL CLIFF, WHY DID THEY ASK FOR A RENEWAL AND NOT ASK FOR THE MONEY REQUIRED TO RUN THE DAM DEPARTMENT? AGAIN, POOR PLANNING, LACK OF KNOWING THE COSTS OF THE OPERATION AND THE FAILURE TO ASK FOR ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER THAT COST. IT IS NOT THE TAXPAYER'S FAULT THAT THE CITY LEADERS CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW TO PROPERLY PREPARE AN OPERATION AND FUND IT CORRECTLY. THE DAM BAILOUTS ARE OVER CITY LEADERS.

ONCE AGAIN, BECAUSE THE CITY HAS FAILED TO GENERATE AN ADEQUATE REVENUE STREAM TO COVER THE ENTIRE CITY OPERATION, WE, THE PEOPLE, ARE BEING CONSIDERED THE FINANCIAL FIXATIVE AND ARE BEING LEAD TO THE POLLS TO GIVE UP MORE OF OUR MONEY. THESE PEOPLE ARE INEPT, DON'T HAVE A CLUE HOW TO MANAGE A BUDGET, DON'T HAVE THEIR ARMS AROUND THE COSTS OF THE CITY AND ARE TOTALLY REACTIVE TO A CRISIS RATHER THAN TO BE PROACTIVE AND PREPARED. FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD, GET SOME PEOPLE TO RUN THIS CITY WHO HAVE A CLUE WHAT THEY ARE DOING. TELL ME PEOPLE, WOULD YOU RUN YOUR HOUSEHOLD BUDGET IN THIS MANNER? IT'S A SIMPLE CONCEPT......MONEY IN CAN NEVER BE LESS THAN MONEY OUT. MERCY!

Be a cold day in Hell before I vote for A levy.Until are "SPINELESS ONES" and Queen Judy are gone my vote will be "NO".

But outside another levy, the other revenue increasing options — hard billing EMS calls and imposing fines and fees — are only projected to rise between $95,000 and $135,000.

About 8,500 calls for service were for EMS, Botts said. About 85 percent of the department’s calls go toward medical service. However, the $5.6 million being billed for those calls result in only about $1.6 million in being collected.

“We billed individual insurance, we bill Medicare and Medicaid, and we do not turn folks over to collections. But that’s what hard billing would be,” Botts said. “It’s something that’s not done in this area, but it’s something you want to consider.”

Botts said the city’s third party billing administrator believes moving from a soft to hard bill would only about $80,000 to $120,000 more would be collected.

I believe this was discussed at the state level several years ago and it was found illegal for the fire department to charge again for a service that had already been paid for by a tax levy…

Yet another act of desperation for more dollars for the coffers of City Hall.

Kudos to Councilman Laubach for his stance against increasing taxes on the citizens of Middletown!!!

The MIDDLETOWNUSA.COM article reported this.  The Middletown Journal story did not!!!

The Citizens of Middletown Have No One to Blame But Themselves For The Fire Dept Fiasco.  They Once Again Voted In A PERMANENT LEVY To Fund Public Safety.  This Was A Major Mistake On The Citizens Of Middletown As They Lost Any Leverage They Had. 

Pacman wrote: The Citizens of Middletown Have No One to Blame But Themselves For The Fire Dept Fiasco.  They Once Again Voted In A PERMANENT LEVY To Fund Public Safety.  This Was A Major Mistake On The Citizens Of Middletown As They Lost Any Leverage They Had.  The Fire Department Received A Grant About A Year Ago And The City Council Went On A Hiring Spree, Hiring I Believe About 6 FireFighters. At That Time I Asked On This Board, Who Would Pay The Salaries Of These 6 Once The Grant Money Ran Out?  I Received No Answer On This Board, However I Believe Ms Scott-Jones Asked The Same Question During A Council Meeting.  She Wanted To Know If The Same Grant Could Be Applied For When The Current Grant Ran Out?  I Believe It Was Fire Chief Botts That Answered Yes To Her Question. I Take It The Grant Is Either Not Available Or Middletown Was Not Awarded This Money A Second Time.  As Far As Charging Fees For Service, Last Year Middletown Charged My Insurance Between $3000-$4000 For EMS Services To The Hospital.  The Only Bill I Ever Saw Was For $800.00 That Didn't Get Billed To The Insurance.  This Is For A 5 Mile Trip. If The City Starts Charging Fines And Turning Over To Collections,You Will Find Citizens Are Less Likely To Call 911 As They Will Be More Concerned About The $800.00 Bill They Will Receive And How To Pay And Some Will Die. As Far As Another Levy,  This Should Be An Absolute NO VOTE By The Citizens. The City Should Investigate Indepth Ketterings Fire Dept Program Which Incorporated Paid and Volunteer FireFighters.  It Is Ludicrious That City Council And City Leaders Continue To Stumble This Same Issue Year After Year.

Once again "Kreskin the Great" aka "Pacman the visually impaired" Strikes again... 
As usual, I was right on the money, in the section highlighted above.  As Usual, the City Council was asleep at the wheel.  My excellent "Foresight" is available to the city at a reasonable rate and one of those heafty pensions they have.

Pacman

From today's Middletown Journal 8/2/13

Cuts in the years to come

Once the city’s police and fire departments have two major grants expire in 2014 and 2015, more than $1.24 million will need to be cut from the city’s budgets, according to a discussion in the City Council finance subcommittee meeting on Thursday.

About $995,000 is projected to be cut for the 2014 budget, according to city documents.

Personnel cuts could happen after these grants expire because personnel cannot be cut during the life of the grants. City Manager Judy Gilleland said city staff will be preparing budget scenarios over the coming weeks.

The bulk of those cuts will come from the police and fire departments, and just under $300,000 is planned to be cut from non-public safety budgets.

Vet,

Glad you are doing fine Pacman but it's not wise to use your own transportation when Middletown has the finest paramedics and fire fighters around. We don't need levy's and bond's. We need jobs and better leadership in this community. Look at your property tax bill and see how much already goes to the schools.

Journal story- October 3rd.....

MIDDLETOWN

Fire positions may be axed in Middletown budget

City Council members are reviewing every line item in the 2014 budget, and some say it’s time to make “bare bone decisions” that may result in lower staffing levels of the city’s fire department.

On Tuesday, Middletown’s vice mayor expressed concern about the city’s budget and how it may negatively impact staffing of the fire department.

Dan Picard said if the city wants to balance its 2014 budget, which means cutting about $1.4 million, there is a potential that up to 15 firefighter positions will be eliminated, including the six who were hired two years ago when the city received a Safer Grant that ends in September 2014.

Picard called cutting that many firefighters — 21 percent of the 73 on staff — “not acceptable.”

Picard said during his four years on City Council, the fire department has been “under attack” and he doesn’t understand the reasoning.

Still, Picard said, the city must find ways to reduce its budget because revenue has remained flat recently. The city budgeted about $29 million in revenue this year, but will be about $600,000 short, he said. The city is projecting about $28 million in its early 2014 budget, he said.

Picard and other council members are hopeful that residents will give them guidance on their priorities.

“We have to get rid of something,” he said.

Councilman Josh Laubach said he wants to see no layoffs in the city’s police and fire departments.

Mayor Larry Mulligan said as the city’s revenue remain the same the city is financially “treading water.”

It’s time to make some “bare bone decisions,” he said, and unlike the federal government, the city can’t shut down.

“We must move forward,” he said. Then he added: “We do have our challenges.”

Council will review the proposed 2014 budget at its meetings on Nov. 5 and Nov. 19, said City Manager Judy Gilleland. She said it’s “unfortunate” that revenues didn’t “bounce back” as quickly as anticipated.

The size of the city’s fire and police departments has dropped recently. In 2007, the city employed 85 fire personnel. Today, there are 73, including two in administration, 69 fire fighters and two who work in training.

During that same time, the police department has dropped from 116 employees to 106. The number of police officers has dropped from 62 in 2011 to 54 this year, according to the city budget.

Chris Klug, vice president of the Local 336, the firefighters’ union, said when Middletown residents passed a public safety levy, they were told the city would “maintain” staffing levels. Now, he said, it appears they’re “going back on their word.”

Klug said if firefighter positions are eliminated, it may cause residents’ and business insurance rates to increase and make it more dangerous for residents and firefighters. He said there were two calls for a house fire recently in the city, and mutual aid was called from Monroe. He said by the time the call was dispatched until Monroe arrived on scene, 20 minutes had passed.

The police department may not lose any positions until early 2016, when a safety grant that allowed the hiring of four officers expires, Gilleland said. Eventually, she said, positions may be cut in the police department too. The size of the department is being reduced through nutrition, said Cris Kelly, union president.

Additional cuts, he said, will impact the “level of services” in the city.

“We are adding to the risk with fewer people,” Kelly said. “We are at bare bones.”

FIRST THOUGHT THAT COMES TO THE CITY LEADERS IS TO CUT FIRE OR POLICE WHEN DISCUSSING THE BUDGET.

FUNNY.....THEY PUSHED THEIR DAM SAFETY LEVY AND GOT IT APPROVED. THEY USED SOME GRANT, ONLY LASTING A FEW YEARS UNTIL 2014 TO HIRE MORE FIRE PERSONNEL KNOWING THE FUNDING WOULDN'T LAST. THEY SOLD THE COMMUNITY ON HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TO HAVE THE SAFETY PEOPLE STAFFED TO GET THEIR LEVY PASSED.....AND NOW, THE FIRST THING OUT OF THE CHUTE- "WE NEED TO CUT THE SAFETY PEOPLE TO BEGIN THE BUDGET PROCESS". THE VERY THING THAT WAS ONCE SO DAM IMPORTANT-GOTTA HAVE IT, IS NOW EXPENDABLE WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY SAVINGS. THESE PEOPLE COULDN'T RUN A BINGO HALL, MUCH LESS A CITY.

HAVEN'T HEARD ONE DAM THING ABOUT CUTTING THE SALARIES OF THE DIRECTORS, THE CITY MANAGER, AND AN ACROSS THE BOARD CUT FOR ALL CITY EMPLOYEES AS YET. HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING ON SHIFTING MONEY AROUND IN OTHER ACCOUNTS TO ACCOMODATE PRIORITIES LIKE POLICE AND FIRE...THE BASICS. YOUR FINANCE DIRECTOR IS GOOD AT THAT. HOW ABOUT FIRING A HALF DOZEN DIRECTORS, MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS DRAWING NICE SALARIES AND DOUBLING UP ON JOB DUTIES FOR THOSE THAT REMAIN? THAT SHOULD SAVE YOU SOME BUCKS TOWARD A BALANCED BUDGET. START REQUIRING EMPLOYEES TO PAY MORE FOR THEIR BENNIES. HAPPENING MORE AND MORE IN THE PRIVATE WORLD OUT HERE. DIDN'T PLAN FOR THE LEGACY COSTS EITHER DID YOU?

MULLIGAN STATES THAT THE REVENUES ARE FLAT AND THE CITY IS "TREADING WATER". THEN WHY ARE YOU SPENDING MONEY DOWNTOWN LIKE A DRUNKEN SAILOR MULLIGAN? THE REVENUE IS FLAT BECAUSE YOU RELIED TOO MUCH ON GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS AND NOT ENOUGH ON TAX REVENUE GENERATION THROUGH PAYROLL AND CORPORATE TAXES. THE PRICE YOU PAY WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE AS PRIORITY ONE- JOBS. AND WHY IS IT THAT WHEN YOU ARE SPENDING MONEY ON YOUR PET PROJECTS, YOU ARE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT "TREADING WATER", BUT AS SOON AS AN ISSUE ARISES THAT DOESN'T FIT YOUR LITTLE "PROGRAMS FOR FRIENDS" CATEGORY, YOU BECOME WORRIED ABOUT THE CITY REVENUE?

CHRIS KLUG SAYS YOU WERE TO MAINTAIN THE FIRE DEPT. LEVELS ON STAFFING. NOW "YOU ARE GOING BACK ON YOUR WORD". MR. KLUG, IF THE CITY LEADERS HAVE ONE CONSTANT, IT IS "GOING BACK ON THEIR WORD". THEY HAVE DONE THIS FOR DECADES. NOT TO BE TRUSTED BY ANYONE WHO IS AWARE OF THEIR RECORD ON PROMISES MADE/PROMISES BROKEN

"The size of the department is being reduced through nutrition, said Cris Kelly, union president"

GUESS THEY'RE BEING STARVED TO DEATH. (SORRY CRIS)

HOW ABOUT ATTRITION?

Klug said if firefighter positions are eliminated, it may cause residents’ and business insurance rates to increase and make it more dangerous for residents and firefighters.

HOW ABOUT LAWSUITS AGAINST THE CITY IF SOMEONE DIES DUE TO A PROLONGED RESPONSE?