Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes addresses Council questions. Council commended Hughes and his department on their service to the community. Councilor James Chrobocinski is a trained nurse who has worked in other hospitals. He said to Hughes, ‘I’ve worked with a lot of EMTs and by far your group is the most professional and technically skilled I’ve ever seen … this community is in good hands.’ Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Staff Report

The Los Alamos County Council voted 7-0 this evening to approve the Fire Department’s proposed FY-2016 budget.

LAFD accounts for 15.2 percent of the County’s General Fund. The General Fund portion of the FY-2016 LAFD budget is decreased by 1 percent to $4.2 million. The total LAFD budget is $28,135,352, of which, $23,360,237 is in the Cooperative Agreement (CA). The majority of the increase in the FY 2016 Fire Department budget is an increase in the interfund/indirect charges based on the Cooperative Agreement (CA), which became effective Oct. 1, 2013 and has a 10-year term.

The CA include amounts from the General Fund to pay for the County’s portion of Fire Services. The indirect charges include charges in the General Fund to administer the CA and are recoverable from the CA. Other increases are due to an increase in anticipated funding from state grants, labor increases, P25 compliance upgrades for radio and dispatch systems, Toughbook replacements, and Zoll LifePak replacements.