Marshfield Fire Department Facing Budget Issues
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022 -- 11:00 AM
(Brittany Slaughter, WAOW) -The Marshfield Fire Department is squaring off against City Hall over budget issues.
Trucks aren't the only thing in the red at the Marshfield Fire Department. "I think other departments across the state are dealing with this as well," said Marshfield City Administrator Steve Barg.
In a memo to the City Council and the Police and Fire Commission, Fire Chief Pete Fletty said he was told the department is over $600,000 in debt. The department is still in the clear because of a previous surplus, but the surplus is shrinking.
In his letter to the City, Fletty mentioned numerous issues the fire department has been facing and offered solutions. One of his main concerns, however, is his claim of not being a part of the conversation when it comes to budget talks.
"I think maybe there has been some miscommunication. I don't think there's been any attempt to leave anyone out of the loop, but our Finance Department and Fire Department operate in different buildings. Sometimes maybe we could improve the two-way communication," Barg said. Other issues include extra costs left over from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as ambulance call bills that are not being paid.
The City Administrator admitted it's an ongoing issue. "We're still trying to pursue them, we're still trying through our third-party provider trying to collect on that money in any way possible, but at some point the likelihood of collection drops off," Barg said.
Tuesday night's meeting will lay everything out for both City Council and the PFC, but solutions are still unclear. "What we need to do is find a way to fill that gap and find a way to take care of that problem and then come up with a more sustainable model for how we're going forward," Barg said.
However, as Chief Fletty noted, these problems are not unique to Marshfield and he hopes an answer can be found before the problem gets worse.
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