Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Chief Ronald Mastin has proposed scaling back ambulance service to help meet the $1.5 million in cuts the agency has been ordered to make before the start of fiscal 2012, according to union officials. The cuts would end overnight service for two of the county’s four basic ambulance units — those that respond to calls not deemed life-threatening. The county’s 37 “advanced life support” units would not be affected.
Cutting ambulance service would save the department nearly $580,000, according to a budget document obtained by The Washington Examiner. Another $450,000 would come from cuts to staffing for the county’s Hazardous Materials Unit, designed to respond to chemical, biological and radiological threats. The remainder of the proposed cuts include decommissioning one medic position and cutting back on overtime.
The belt-tightening comes after several years of paring back, even as Fairfax remains in fiscal ship-shape compared to other local jurisdictions. Fairfax’s police department is also looking at cuts in the $1.5 million range over the next five months, but specific proposals have not been shared with officers, according to a Fairfax County police union official.
John Niemiec, president of the Fairfax County Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics, said his union has set up a committee to offer alternatives to Mastin’s proposal.
“Do we want to work with the fire chief? Absolutely. Are we happy? No, we’re not,” Niemiec said. “We don’t know what other options have been exhausted, and why we would need to impact units on the streets.”
A spokesman for Mastin refused to comment on the proposals, and deferred budget concerns to County Executive Anthony Griffin’s office.
Merni Fitzgerald, spokeswoman for the county, said that all agencies were asked in the spring of 2010 to make cuts in the range of 1 percent of their budgets in order to prepare for a shortfall in 2012. The reductions were not to result in layoffs or diminished public safety, she said.
Compared to neighboring jurisdictions, Fairfax’s pains brought on by a projected $55 million deficit remain relatively small. Montgomery County is staring down a $300 million deficit, and the District’s is at least $545 million. Both jurisdictions reluctantly have proposed significant cuts to police, fire and emergency services.
