Full-Time Firefighters Approved In Baxter Budget

Three full-time firefighters the biggest change in Baxter’s 2023 fiscal year budget.

The proposed total expenditures are set at some $2.8 million, a $1.1 million increase from 2022’s estimate. Fire Chief Matthew White:

“Council decided earlier in the year that this would be one of their top priorities to do,” White said.  “Our call volume has increased over the last five years and over the last two years, it’s increased 200 percent. So just on the sheer amount of call volume, we’re doing we want and need somebody here 24 hours a day.”

White said that the total cost for the new firefighter’s salary totaled some $131,040. He said that the full-time coverage for the city is something they’ve been anticipating for years. He said that the full-time coverage will allow the department to cut down on response time.

Total revenues for the budget are proposed for some $2.2 million, with the end-of-year fund balance estimated at $745,863. Chief Financial Officer Sharon Carlile said that the city’s tax rate will stay the same at 1.0860. Mayor John Martin said that they feel comfortable about this year’s budget.

“We feel good where we’re at this time,” Martin said. “We’re just fearful just like everyone else is as far as the economy. You know just hoping that everything continues and it doesn’t impact the growth. All the developers I’ve talked to are all still ready to go. So we’re just hoping that continues. That’s what’s really put us where we’re at as far as the monies and the permitting and everything we’ve got coming in, it’s really helped the bottom line.”