Selectmen Explain Increases In The Proposed Budget

To The Amherst Taxpayers;

The Amherst Board of Selectmen would like to take this time to explain the budget. The difference between the Default Budget and the Operating Budget is $144,825 and there are a few reasons for that, which we want to detail. For the past few years, the Selectmen have been hearing from past and current fire chiefs that we need to compensate our firefighters for training, and increase their hourly rate when they respond to emergency calls. Chairman Bowler, contacted several communities around the state so that the Selectmen could see not only where our fire department came in, but also where our Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department stood relative to other towns.

Over the years, the requirements to become a firefighter have increased. A new recruit must spend hundreds of hours to become certified and be able fight fire. This budget has an additional $45,000 in the Part Time Wage line for the Fire Department in order to adequately compensate our men and women who want to become an Amherst Firefighter.  

We have also included an additional $9,000 in the Fire Department Breathing Apparatus line so that the department can continue to replace the Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) which allows our firefighters to enter a hazardous scene. Because of the age of our fleet, another $2,000 has been added to the Vehicle/ Equipment Repair lines. So, a total of $56,000 has been added to the Fire Department budget, so that these 3 lines can be funded.

Last year, when it was mentioned, that we had Library Pages making more than our EMT’s, it only further showed, that something had to be done. The survey showed that we were in fact paying our EMS folks well below what others towns were paying their EMT/Para Medics. In order to try to get these dedicated members of the EMS department who provide 24/7 Advanced Life Support (ALS) service to the towns of Amherst and Mont Vernon more in line, we knew we had to increase the hourly rate. To be mindful of the taxpayers, we determined that we would need to make these increases over a 2 year period. This year, we added $76,000 to the EMS Wage line to get our EMT wages to be more competitive when compared to local towns that compete for the same EMTs.

For 2 years now, we have been told that a retaining wall at Spaulding’s Field was in need of replacement because of rot, which also creates a safety issue. To be able to replace this wall and avoid any liability should someone get hurt, $13,000 was added into the General Government Buildings Repair and Maintenance line.

As you can see, the biggest part of the increase from the Default to the Operating Budget is to be able to compensate the members of the Fire and EMS Departments who provide the services that they do which saves the town money as we don’t need to hire fulltime employees.

We hope you agree that our Fire and EMS personnel need to be fairly compensated and that you will support the Operating Budget as presented by your Department Heads, Town Ways and Means Committee and the Board of Selectmen.

Sincerely,

Amherst Board of Selectmen