MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — For the third year in a row, Mt. Juliet's fire department did not receive funding for additional firefighters in the city's proposed budget.
Mt. Juliet Fire Chief Mark Foulks made his case before the city commission last week after his request to boost staffing levels went unfunded.
There were 11 fire positions requested that were not funded in the budget, which would have cost about $975,000.
Foulks warned that without more firefighters, the department would struggle to get as many personnel on the scene of a fire as quickly — and that some services could be scaled back.
"If none of these positions are staffed, we're going to have to stop utilizing quick response vehicles because we will not have the staffing to do so," said Chief Foulks.
The meeting was a budget workshop, where commissioners work through how city dollars get allocated.
I talked to District 3 Commissioner Scott Hefner who said those decisions are not easy.
"Each department is battling for those dollars and it's one of the main responsibilities for the commission to pass the budget. So those decisions are pretty tough," Hefner said.
According to Chief Foulks, the fire department saw their requests for more personnel funding denied for the past two years.
However, Hefner noted that the fire department saw significant growth in staffing in the years leading up to the current budget cycle, which is part of why no new positions have been added recently.
"We went from 36 firemen to now close to 80, and 16 to 18 of those are dedicated to our ambulance department," Hefner said.
Before he would consider approving additional hires in the new proposed budget, Hefner said he wants to review more data.
"I've got to see with the growth in these departments, specifically in fire, is that on pace with the amount of households that have increased in three years," Hefner said.
I asked Hefner what leaving these positions unfunded now would be mean for an average homeowners safety.
"There's never been a safer time to live in the city limits of Mt. Juliet," Hefner said. “We've invested a tremendous amount of money in fire and EMS over the past five years since I've been on this board. We are double coverage in the city of Mount Juliet by way of mutual aid agreement with WEMA and by way of Mount Juliet fire, EMS, and PD.”
The fire department also provides EMS services.
Even so, taking those services into account, Chief Foulks told the city commission that he believes the city needs more personnel to keep pace with its size.
"The next closest city to us that provides transport EMS has 24 more personnel than we do. Why is that important? It just shows that we are not oversized for a fire department for our size of city," Foulks said.
The first reading of the budget is June 8. City leaders have until the end of the month to make adjustments and approve it.
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