City staff to shift fire station upkeep to property management; board seeks detailed cost breakdown

City building management staff told the Board of Estimate and Taxation on March 5 that the department will assume maintenance responsibility for five fire stations, the Gallagher Mansion and other properties, creating a significant increase in workload and utility exposure.

Property manager Neil Rennie said building management currently has three management staff, seven engineering/maintenance staff and a janitorial group; taking over the additional buildings will increase the square footage and associated maintenance hours. Rennie provided sample projected annual maintenance amounts for individual buildings (for example, a projected $11,011 average maintenance allocation for one station) and said the mansion is particularly equipment- and utility-intensive because of its age.

Mayor Smith and the chair asked the administration to provide granular detail on which line items are simple transfers versus true new incremental costs and to provide labor-hour estimates per building. Vanessa said the current apparent increase partly reflects reallocation (some costs shifting from the fire department’s budget into building management), but that the city also needs additional staffing and operating dollars to maintain higher standards and to address longstanding building-condition issues (mold and pest control at certain stations) identified in prior years.

The board asked staff to return with a comparative analysis that shows where maintenance costs were previously budgeted, what will transfer, and what represents net new expense before the final deliberations.