Fairbanks fire Chief Jim Styers said he will try to convince the City Council and city staff that laying off two firefighters is not the proper way to go about balancing the budget in 2018.
Mayor Jim Matherly released his proposed 2018 budget on Tuesday. Budget meetings among the mayor, council and city staff begin Nov. 1. The budget won’t be approved until December.
Matherly said he approached the budget conservatively with state revenue-sharing drying up. This year the city received $866,732 from Juneau. Matherly does not expect any revenue coming from the state in 2018.
Matherly’s budget proposes laying off two firefighters and the city’s risk manager to balance the budget. By code, the mayor must produce a balanced budget.
Last year the Fairbanks Fire Department set a record in responding to 4,965 calls for assistance, a 15 percent increase from 2015, according to the budget. And 40 times, Fairbanks Fire Department personnel were tied up and unavailable to respond to calls.