Page 111 - Fort Worth City Budget 2019

General Fund

• Initiating a citywide Continuity of Operations Plan.
• Expanding advertising and recruiting efforts to help broaden the fire trainee applicant pool.
• Developing curriculum for active shooter awareness and response.
• Continuing fire safety education efforts, such as smoke detector drives and drowning prevention
activities.
• Developing and enhancing training activities and facility rental opportunities at Bob Bolen.
• Upgrading the Telestaff scheduling system and initiating plans to integrate the system with PeopleSoft.

FY2019 DISCUSSION

The department’s adopted budget for FY2019 is $150M, which is an increase of $4.9M from the FY2018 budget.
Significant budget changes include:

The adopted budget includes a reduction of 2 APs and 2 FTEs after the transfer of two authorized positions from
the Fire department to the Information Technology department for a net neutral impact to the General Fund.

The adopted budget increases by approximately $3M for compensation changes related to civil service personnel,
including increases for the civil service base pay, holiday pay and overtime accounts.

The adopted budget increases by $670k to fund 14 authorized positions (14 FTEs) for a one-time fire trainee class.
The class is needed to facilitate the staffing of the new Fire Station 43, which is expected to be operational in
FY2020.

HORIZON ISSUES

In order to continue maintaining its place as one of the most progressive and innovative fire departments, some
of the long-term opportunities and initiatives the Fire Department will be working towards include:
• Identifying cancer prevention efforts.
• Enhancing community outreach and public education efforts.
• Achieving and maintaining a diverse fire service workforce.
• Integrating mobile technology into work activities.
• Designing and building a new fire station along the Chisholm Trail corridor.
• Replacing aging fire stations and support facilities.
• Using advancements in emergency medical services (EMS) technology to improve patient outcomes.

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