Providing quality, affordable emergency service is a complex and difficult task. Every organization operates under different state laws and local ordinances with few common denominators. Some departments operate on a tax base, while others depend on the generosity of their communities. Some have employees, while others depend on volunteers. Some are accustomed to purchasing new equipment and apparatus, while others rely on previously owned. The one common denominator is this difficult economy.

In less than one year, gasoline prices have risen 42%, diesel 60% and natural gas 73%. Also on the rise are electricity, propane, water and sewer fees. Health care costs are escalating far faster than the average cost of living. Departments that provide health care benefits as a retention tool may find these rates problematic. Medical, dental and vision plans are being priced beyond the affordable level. And the cost of replacing vital safety, personal protection equipment, hose, brass, nozzles, ladders and apparatus also is escalating rapidly.

The only budget element that isn't rising is the revenue line. The word “recession” is bantered about on television and in the newspapers. Is this country in a recession? Does it even matter what economists term the current condition?

Winston Churchill once told his beleaguered nation, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Now it's time for fire chiefs to band together, roll up their proverbial sleeves and collectively tackle the issues at hand. It's time for chiefs to earn those “big salaries” and balance their difficult budgets.

For a broad base of solutions, I challenged the board of directors of the Volunteer and Combination Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs to gather some best practices from their brightest members. They offered some good suggestions for all fire department budget managers.

In the simplest terms, there are three ways to balance a difficult budget: Increase revenue, decrease expenditures or a combination of the two.

The most obvious way to balance any budget is to increase the tax base an organization draws from. Unfortunately, most residents are suffering economically as well. Unemployment rates are rising, the housing industry is in free fall, and property and sales tax revenues are declining. The last thing residents want to hear from their fire chief is a plea for more taxes.

One element of income that should receive scrutiny is fee schedules. Do they reflect the true cost of doing business in today's climate? Are fire marshal or plan check fees appropriate; how about developer impact fees? Are they keeping up with the cost of replacing apparatus or fire stations? Do commercial occupancy inspection fees reflect the current or future price of fuel and vehicle maintenance? Does the department charge fees for non-emergency services? If not, a department may want to consider implementing such fees. They can go a long way toward offsetting the high cost of conducting routine business.

Most homeowners' policies provide for nominal reimbursement to fire departments for salvage and overhaul following a structure fire. It's not much, usually about $500, but it can help replace salvage covers or pay for a backhoe to speed and simplify overhaul. Many states have implemented laws that permit public safety agencies to recover expenses for response to illegal acts, such as vehicle collisions caused by a driver under the influence of drugs or alcohol or incidents involving use or distribution of illegal substances. In recent years, specialized vendors have surfaced to assist with collections.

If a department provides emergency medical transport, are the fees keeping up with rapidly escalating expenses? Public reimbursements for medical services continue to dwindle, but a department should not leave uninvoiced legitimate, billable services to insurance providers.

If a fire department provides wildland protection, chiefs shouldn't overlook the opportunity for assistance-by-hire revenues. Federal and many state agencies desperately need properly equipped and trained resources during declared wildland fire seasons. Consider negotiating assistance-by-hire agreements for everything from Type-I engines for structure protection to pick-up trucks equipped with a slide-in pump and tank unit for mop-up and patrol assignments. Also, as the baby-boomer generation of incident managers retires, local agencies are playing a more prominent role in supplying qualified incident management team personnel. One California county fire department has been refining its process over the past 15 years and now averages $16 million per year in billings with a net retained earnings of $1.3 million. In California most federal and state IMTs are augmented by local agency personnel.

Nearly every chief officer understands the value of grants, but based on FEMA statistics, not every fire department applies for available federal funding. The Mariposa County (Calif.) Fire Department depends on federal grant funding to purchase most of its safety equipment, PPE and apparatus. In 2007, the department received $1.24 million in FIRE Act funding, $420,000 in SAFER grants, and nearly $200,000 in state homeland security and emergency planning funds. The department would not survive without grant funding.

The FEMA-AFG regional grant program represents an under-subscribed opportunity to partner with other agencies to achieve interoperable communication systems as well as regional training and operational opportunities. If a department needs something through the FEMA-AFG program, chiefs should ask for it. Not enough organizations do.

Private foundations offer another source of funding. Today's Internet search engines make the task of sorting through private foundation programs much easier. Many foundations have stated missions that fit very well with emergency response, community education and prevention, and have projects that provide for public safety involving low-income families, seniors and children.

Explore opportunities to partner with community service clubs such as Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions or faith-based organizations. Many local chapters actively are searching for community projects and they bring both funding and volunteer labor to the table. When it comes to grants and partnerships, leave no stone unturned. Many funding opportunities are lost for lack of a little effort and imagination.

If balancing a fire department budget through cutting expenses during tough economic times were simple, I wouldn't be writing this article. Successfully reducing expenditures requires creative finesse and thinking outside the box. Making budget-balancing gains without significantly impacting customer service requires baby steps. Effective budget managers must analyze every expense and ensure every penny spent contributes directly to providing service or retaining members. Every expense must efficiently contribute to meeting the mission statement.

How much can a department trim its electricity, natural gas, propane or utility bills? Consider exchanging incandescent bulbs for fluorescent ones. Analyze how many exterior lights are necessary to ensure station security. Ensure lights are switched off when rooms or stations are not in use. In cold-weather climates, weather-strip doors and windows and install double- or triple-pane glass. Turn down thermostats in winter and turn them up in summer. Launder multiple sets of PPE instead of just one per load.

How about excess cellular phones? Unless there is an immediate need, consider discontinuing monthly service. Monitor telephone bills for unauthorized long-distance charges and analyze the length of those calls. Are the calls predominantly business related or are they evolving into unnecessary social opportunities?

With the rapid and continuing rise in fuel costs, reducing gasoline or diesel invoices is nearly impossible. However, it is possible to slow that increase through wise vehicle management. The Ponderosa (Texas) Fire Department used to fill engines and staff vehicles when fuel tanks reached the three-quarter level. They now hold off fueling until the level reaches one-half. They have effectively cut in half their refueling mileage. That savings became significant, as apparatus from several stations must travel a long distance to reach the refueling station. Ponderosa also has reviewed its run or box cards and dropped one engine per call until an on-scene size-up is completed.

Many departments, both large and small, have discontinued sending engines or ladder trucks on medical calls. They instead are sending squads, patrols or utility vehicles and leaving the big vehicles at the station. Some departments have discontinued use of an engine to make the grocery run. One person in a staff car or utility vehicle can complete the task much less expensively. It may take some creative contingency planning to ensure service is not compromised, but the fuel and maintenance savings can be significant.

Earlier this year, UPS modified its delivery routes to use more right turns and realized millions in fuel savings. The fire service can't match that technique, but it can find some surprising financial returns with close scrutiny of dispatch patterns and apparatus deployment.

In tough economic times, it may become necessary to reduce out-of-town training significantly. Often it's more efficient to send one member to a train-the-trainer course and have him or her deliver the curriculum to members. If a department doesn't have a certified instructor in-house, neighboring agencies can assist. It is much more efficient to conduct specialty training on a regional basis rather than having departments duplicating classes.

Even though most fire departments are all-risk agencies, not every department must staff and equip specialty teams for every discipline. Unless you live on a remote island, it is not necessary to be all things to all people. A regional approach to hazmat, high- and low-angle rescue, surface-water or dive rescue, confined-space rescue, and wilderness search missions are much more cost effective. Creative analysis and negotiations with neighbors will return significant financial rewards for many years into the future.

While talking with neighbors, also explore potential efficiencies through joint community education and prevention programs, fire marshal and commercial occupancy inspection programs, and joint-agency training officers. Solicit volunteers from service clubs to assist with smoke detector and youth education programs.

Use available employees wisely. When needed, training officers, inspectors and investigators can fill voids in the suppression ranks. Explore outsourcing services such as vehicle maintenance, facilities management, janitorial service, and yard care. Due to employment taxes and benefit costs, often times private vendors can supply services less expensively and more efficiently than employees. Make certain the organization is operating at maximum efficiency. Sometimes downsizing without compromising service is possible.

Survey alternative vendors to ensure the best possible pricing for goods and services. Long-term or exclusive business arrangements sometimes evolve into expensive or inefficient partnerships. Joint-purchasing pools such as Fire Rescue GPO offer outstanding pricing opportunities for organizations of all sizes. Chief Greg Render of the Signal Hill (Ill.) Fire Department suggests haggling over product pricing, trying water coolers rather than bottled water and using powdered sports drink instead of bottled product. It is your obligation to ensure the best value possible for your customers. Analyze your call-for-service statistics and close or temporarily “mothball” unnecessary stations.

Many states publish fire department statistics in a ratio format. When possible, compare statistics from like size and types of departments. Statistical comparisons can produce opportunities for improvement or expense reductions. Search out merger and consolidation opportunities. During difficult economic climates, it's time to set egos aside and do the right thing for your customers and members.

Do the research and justify your actions. As your community's chief officer, you are the trustee of their funds. Your community expects and deserves nothing but your best effort at delivering quality service at an affordable price.

If you have additional success stories, please send them to jwilson@mariposacounty.org or call 209-966-4330. I will include them in future columns.

Together, we can survive and prosper.

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Jim Wilson is fire chief of Mariposa County (Calif.) Fire Department and a 36-year veteran of the volunteer and combination fire service. He has founded two successful business ventures including a book publishing company specializing in America's national parks and approaches fire service issues with an entrepreneurial outlook. Wilson is also a graduate of National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program and is on the board of directors of International Association of Fire Chiefs' Volunteer and Combination Officers Section.