Smithfield board increases fire overtime, approves two new hires and $716K rescue-funded capital

The Budget & Financial Review Board approved a revised fire department budget on May 12 that modestly increases staffing and raises the overtime appropriation to reflect recent operating realities.

Discussion centered on a department request for seven new positions following the loss of SAFER grant funding. Committee members highlighted historically large overtime spend and asked whether the budget should add all requested positions or phase hires to control the fiscal impact. Chair said the board would not immediately fund all seven positions and proposed a stepped approach: adding two positions this fiscal year and phasing additional hires in future years.

On overtime, members acknowledged that last year’s appropriation significantly underfunded actual overtime expense. One committee member proposed raising the overtime line to $545,000, a proposal that moved the budget toward a more realistic operating number. Chair emphasized offsets including rescue billing revenue and other departmental adjustments when discussing net levy effects.

The board separately approved $716,000 in fire department capital spending to be funded from the rescue billing fund; Chair explained that many of those capital purchases are already designated to be levy‑neutral because revenue for them is restricted to the fire rescue account. “We have, I believe, 716,006… that would potentially come from the rescue billing fund,” the Chair said during the review.

The board approved the operating and capital motions by voice vote and directed staff to present reconciled departmental numbers for final council submission.

What’s next: Staff will reconcile the overtime and headcount changes against the town’s revenue offsets and include the fire department’s final numbers in the packet the board will send to the council.