Montgomery County Council members voiced concerns Tuesday about proposals from the countyexecutive to cut costs, which would likely increase response time for fire and rescue services in certain parts of the county.
Montgomery’s top elected official, Ike Leggett, proposed $23.6 million in immediate cuts to county spending in order to head off a $401 million projected budget gap for the fiscal year that begins next July.
His proposals include taking a Hillandale firetruck out of service, transferring nighttime Emergency Medical Services resources from Glen Echo and Laytonsville to other areas, and destaffing a Germantown rescue squad, all of which are described in memos as likely increasing rescue squad response time.
“We don’t know the answer to how bad these delays in response times are, but they certainly sound pretty scary,” Council member George Leventhal said. “If you really, really want them to pass the County Council, the way they are described guarantees concern and it could have been written in a less provocative way.”
Last spring, a budget review of Montgomery’s Fire and Rescue department reported it was often taking firefighters twice as long to get to blazes and other emergencies as department leaders wanted.
“Let’s face it, the fire and rescue service is in a time of much-needed growth,” Fire Chief Tom Carr told The Examiner. “The council has been in support of that growth. To take a pause now and take a step back is concerning.”
Carr said it was impossible to estimate just how much response times would be affected by Leggett’s proposed budget cuts.
“If these cuts are accepted, I don’t believe the sky would be falling and we’d be putting the community at risk,” Carr said. “But when we’re at a time of growth, this is going to impact us for sure.”
Patrick Lacefield, Leggett’s spokesman, said officials in the county executive’s office were not happy to be making cuts either.
“You’ve got to start somewhere though,” Lacefield said.
Some council members have said they objected to Leggett’s desire to make 2 percent cuts across the board in spending, specifically when it comes to funding public safety.
“The only place to go in cuts of that amount for us is staffing,” Carr said.
