Amidst Lean Budgets and Stagnation, Affton Fire District Looks Forward

With the local economy remaining slumped and census numbers showing a stagnant population in Affton, the Affton Fire Protection District is looking for ways to save money and improve services against declines in revenue.

“It’s all got to do with the economy,” said Affton Fire Chief Jim Fritz, speaking to Patch this week. “We are a landlocked district. There is very little growth in the area.”

At the district’s monthly fire board meeting on Feb. 22, Fritz laid out his vision for the district’s future. Fritz said he plans to focus on professional development and improving customer service.

Fritz said Affton firefighters do a great deal of training and work to get credentialed in a number of areas. In April, the district will be heading a large “compliance burn” training with several other fire districts. He hopes that having more highly trained employees will help the district give more to the community.

“We’ve set higher standards here,” Fritz said.

Fire board president Terry Bader will be chairing a new steering committee to assess revenues and the district budget against community needs. The committee may solicit help and input from members in the community, Chief Fritz said.

“We are reassessing our whole existence,” Fritz said.

In 2010, the district cut expenses by $320,000. For its 2011 budget, the district has reduced anticipated expenses by another $200,000. This is out of a total $5.4 million operating budget.

“We are cutting some of the fat,” said Fritz, who has been looking for ways to reduce inefficiency since becoming fire chief two years ago. “We are working hard to balance (the budget).”

In 2010, the district eliminated three positions by attrition, letting employees retire without replacing them. Fritz said he hopes to be able to fill those positions once the economy picks back up.

The DECA business program at Bayless School District has been working as a free school project to reassess and improve the fire district’s website.

The fire district gets most of its revenue from taxes on real estate and personal property in its area, but revenues have declined since the crash of the housing market and the fall of real estate prices.

The district’s future revenues depend partly on the results of the 2012 assessment of property values by the county assessor’s office.

Revenues from the district’s ambulance service have also decreased, as more people out of work means more people without health insurance, unable to pay the ambulance bill if they have an emergency. Billing revenues now just cover the everyday usage costs of the ambulances, without any left over to feed capital improvement funds.

In 2010, the district ran 3,692 calls, 80 percent of which were for medical emergencies.

The Affton Fire Protection District has 32 firefighters, plus 30 reserve volunteers, and three firehouses.