Port Chester Fire Chief 'Not Comfortable' with Budget Reductions

The village courthouse is usually near-empty when trustees meet, with a handful of meeting regulars and occasionally a neighbor or two with a specific concern about their street or neighborhood.

On Monday, the small courthouse was packed to standing room only, as Port Chester's police officers and firefighters crowded in a show of solidarity to protest $240,000 in proposed cuts to both departments.

Among them: steep reductions in overtime for departments they say are already understaffed and slashed funds that would leave positions vacant pending retirements.

Port Chester's Republicans left nothing untouched as they over the weekend to draft 80 budget amendments, and the remainder of the cuts ranged from reductions in money for office supplies, to less cash for things like spare parts in the municipal garage where police cruisers are repaired.

The cuts to the Port Chester Fire Department include a $75,000 reduction in money allotted for overtime, $8,000 less for training, and $22,000 less for repairs and maintenance in the village's firehouses.

Like other managers who were quizzed by the board on Monday night, fire Chief Kevin McFadden was called to the podium, where he acknowledged the difficult economic times and promised to work with the board to keep costs down in his department.

But when talk turned to staffing levels in a department that has a vacancy and two career firefighters on light duty, McFadden said the overtime cuts could have consequences as trustees debated whether they were slicing into services that guarantee "the health, welfare and safety" of people in Port Chester.

After an initial round of budget talks and public meetings, McFadden and Village Manager Christopher Russo agreed to slash the fire department's overtime budget by $25,000. On Monday, after private budget meetings by the board's Republicans, those trustees put up a series of amendments, including a further $50,000 reduction in fire department overtime.

Firefighters say the overtime is something they can't control and is dictated by injuries, vacation time and vacancies.

"No, I'm not comfortable," McFadden said when Mayor Dennis Pilla asked him if the overtime cuts would impact fire service. "We're going to run into a problem, I can feel it."

Along with its career staff – which at full levels included a dozen paid firefighters – the department relies heavily on the work of a large force of volunteer firefighters, many of whom joined their career colleagues Monday night to protest the budget cuts.

The Port Chester Fire Department also has a contract with Rye Brook. The neighboring village provides $890,000 in funds to Port Chester in a contract for shared fire resources, and some trustees questioned whether reduced staffing levels could create legal liabilities in the event of a fire.

"I don't want to end up in a position where there's a fire in Rye Brook and the house burns down," said Trustee Daniel Brakewood, "and we end up in litigation because we didn't fulfill the obligation."

Mayor Dennis Pilla said he could hear "the emotion in [McFadden's] voice" as he provided curt answers to questions from some trustees and promised to work within budget constraints.

Overall, the board decided by a vote of four to two – along party lines – to reduce the overtime budget to $125,000. That's down from $254,000 this year and the $200,000 initially recommended when Village Manager Christopher Russo presented the first budget proposal, minus cuts, to the board in late March.

Board Republicans said the cuts were painful but necessary to deliver on their promise of avoiding a tax rate increase for most residents, but backed down when talk turned to measurable impact on the fire department's ability to respond to fires and major incidents.

In the end, the board agreed on a compromise – Trustees Sam Terenzi and John Branca said the "first" $50,000 from the village's contingency fund would go to the fire department if there were cost overruns. They said they would reserve the money and guarantee it's available to the department. Democrats – including Brakewood and Pilla – equated the move to essentially shifting funds around for the appearance of cuts, and said the contingency money – which had also been reduced – had been budgeted by Republicans for other items, and might not be available as board Republicans promised.

After Brakewood questioned the move, Terenzi became annoyed, barking at Brakewood and saying he was tired of repeating himself on a long night when budget talks dragged on toward midnight and tempers flared.

In the end, the hawkish attitude on the overtime cuts by some trustees softened, as they told McFadden to control costs while holding the extra money in reserve.

"I'll give it my 100 percent best," McFadden said. "That's all I can do."

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