The Emergency and Protective Services Department includes Fire, By-Law and Parking Services. In total this department accounts for almost $1.2 million in expenses that add a little less than $1.1 million to the 2016 Levy.

(Reminder: the final budget meeting is this Tuesday, the 26th, starting at 5:30 PM.)

Fire Department

The Fire Department costs are reasonably straightforward in terms of expenses. Although this service relies heavily on equipment, trucks, fire station and gear, the largest part of the expenses, about two-thirds is related to personnel. Volunteer firefighters are compensated for their time and efforts to the tune of about $250,000 annually. By way of perspective, the annual Fire Department costs are about the same as snow removal or parks management.

By-Law Enforcement

In a similar manner, the greatest expense related to By-Law Enforcement is personnel costs. Services provided to other municipalities, largely parking enforcement (Hmm, are they planning on free parking? I hope not!), reduces total costs by about $32,500.

Parking Services

I have reviewed at length in other posts the issues revolving around Parking and Free Parking. In terms of dollars, while Parking amounted to a net $12,000 positive to the levy as recently as 2014, in 2016 it is forecast to be a $137,000 expense. The $35,5000 in revenue is probably related to special parking permits that would permit the holders to park for longer periods than permitted by Free Parking.