TITLE
The Mayor and City Council shall discuss and possibly take action on accepting FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters SAFER Grant (AFG) for adding two firefighters. The grant award is for $334,600 and the city has a matching component which has previously been discussed. Discussion and Action
AGENDA ITEM DESCRIPTION
The Maricopa Fire/Medical Department had applied for the 2016 AFG SAFER Grant. Members of the department's Chief staff also visited FEMA and discussed the application with the Acting FEMA Director and her staff in April, 2017. This grant will add two additional firefighters to the current staffing. Although still under the recommended staffing levels, the addition of two firefighters will definitely assist in bringing the department closer to the necessary staffing levels.
CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager recommends accepting the AFG SAFER Grant. Based on our five year financial projections, acceptance of the grant does not place us in harms way of going below the 30 percent of expenditures fund balance requirement for General Fund, as outlined in your financial policies. The first two years of the grant's matching funds requirement is proposed to be taken from the Fire Department's overttime budget. It is worth noting that an issue of concern is the grant's requirement that the City maintain existing staffing firefighter levels in the Fire Department during the three year term of the grant. This concern is minimized due to our healthy General Fund fund balance. Based on our current financial projections, should there be a down turn in our economy we will be able to wheather it, so long as we continue to be cautious in the hiring of additional staff.