After criticism over an inflated number in this year’s budget, Fredonia Fire Chief Joshua Myers offered a considerably lower ambulance revenue projection in the upcoming spending plan.

Myers stated at a Board of Trustees budget meeting he budgeted $550,000 for 2025-26, down from the $800,000 for 2024-25. (Fredonia’s fiscal years begin every June 1.)

He said the latest projection is based on “pure data,” but also defended the 2024-25 number.

“It’s a projection. I can’t make people pay their bills…It’s an educated, I emphasize educated, guess that we went off of,” he said. “When we’re talking about this year’s budget, I’ve reduced that number to a more 100% attainable number.”

Myers said the village has already passed $550,000 in actual ambulance service revenue for 2024-25, and it also recently increased billing rates. Because of those factors, “I’m real comfortable with that number” of $550,000, he said.

Myers admitted in the previous budget cycle, “we assumed it was safe to, say that three quarters of our patients would pay the bills. That wasn’t the case.”

Trustee Nicole Siracuse called Myers’ projection “pretty safe this year.” Trustee Paul Wandel commented, “It seems like you targeted 550 (thousand dollars) because you collected 556 (thousand dollars).”

Myers requested the return of $22,000 for personal protective equipment, evidently cut by trustees from Mayor Michael Ferguson’s proposed 2025-26 budget. He noted an $84,000 expenditure in that budget line a couple years ago “because all of our fire gear was expiring. We got to that point because we were not replacing two, three, four sets a year… We have a real need for two sets. I need two sets.”

He explained that Bryce Fisher is using used gear during his fire academy training but will need his own, personally fitted gear when he starts to go on calls. He’s set to graduate May 22. In addition, gear will be needed for whoever replaces Tim Winters, who’s retiring in June.

Myers said he currently can’t offer new gear to any volunteers that join the fire department. “I’ve asked the volunteer fire company to pay for a few sets of gear. They have told me no.,” he said. “They have told me it’s a village responsibility because it’s an OSHA requirement.”

He added, “I’m well aware that we’re in a time of need and I’m ok going without. But I really need to stress that we need to buy two sets of gear. I would like to request that’s put back in the budget.”

Trustees sounded agreeable to that. The gear has a 10-year lifespan.

Myers also worried that Treasurer Erlyssa LeBeau’s spreadsheet did not include money to pay the salary of Winters’ replacement. Siracuse said, “I would be more comfortable with having it in there and being able to take it out. If the new contract comes through and we have to replace him and we didn’t budget for it, that’s an extra $87,000 we didn’t account for. That’s way too much money to have to spend that we didn’t account for.”

Myers pointed out that a new hire will get paid less than Winters, a lieutenant.

The fire chief was also concerned about cuts to maintenance lines. On one line, he commented, “My difficulty with this is our current year’s budget, I was budgeted $12,000 and it was cut to $3,700… Again, I’m behind the curveball — I haven’t bought things that we need, safety things, gloves, vest, lights, I could go down the list and talk for hours. Going down to $10,000 (from Ferguson’s proposed $16,000), it’s gonna hurt. If that needs to stay at $10,000, then I will make it work, but it’s gonna hurt, and we’re not going to be able to outfit the department trucks and personnel with the things that I really should be.”

Myers repeated that it’s better to replace things gradually then all at once.

“My job is to be delicate to the overall village position. But my job is also to keep my department safe,” he said.