Fire chiefs through the western United States are being asked to propose budget cuts between 10% and 25% for their departments—often including EMS service—as local governments try to fund operations in the face of dramatic tax-revenue declines caused by stay-at-home measures designed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re hearing that, broad-based across the West, fire chiefs are being asked to present budgets that represent between a 10% and a 25% reduction,” Jeff Johnson, executive director of the Western Fire Chiefs, said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “I’ve heard it as low as 10% and as high as 25%.”
“The states that are getting hit the hardest are the ones that are sales-tax dependent. They’ve lost [revenue from] sales tax, fuel tax, airport landing fees, tourism tax—there are a number of things that have just stopped.”