LEBANON — In response to federal funding changes, the City Council voted unanimously last week to seek grant money for just one new firefighter position — a reduction from its past support for four additional positions.

The reduction comes as firefighter call volumes in Lebanon continue to climb.

In February, the City Council directed Fire Chief Jim Wheatley to apply for funding for four new firefighter positions, expecting that the federal government would cover salaries and benefits for three years.

But in May the terms of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant program changed. 

“It wasn’t right for me to just go ahead and continue that process, I needed to come back and be very transparent,” Wheatley told the Council at last Wednesday’s meeting.

In past years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which administers the competitive grant, has offered municipalities the full cost of salaries and benefits over three years for all of the new positions. Under those terms, the city would have had to cover the cost of equipment and basic training, which was expected to total $119,000 for four positions over three years.

If the city were to pursue four positions under the new terms, the city would be on the hook for almost $2 million, covering 25% of salary and benefit costs in the first two years, and 65% in the final year. 

After almost an hour of discussion Wednesday, the Council voted unanimously to direct Wheatley to apply for just one position, which will cost about $211,000 over three years. Grant awards for this cycle will be announced in the fall. 

Given the significant cost change and looming uncertainties about the future of the program, the council agreed that it would be unreasonable to apply for four positions. But the seven members in attendance had more difficulty finding a path forward.

Councilors questioned how many positions to apply for, if any at all, and wondered what might happen to the grant program over the next few years. 

Since January, President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have repeatedly discussed ways of “phasing out” or dramatically shrinking FEMA. Currently, a Trump-established council is compiling suggestions for how to reform the agency, the Associated Press has reported. 

“I would be lying to you if I said I thought it would be okay,” Wheatley told the Council amid questions about the certainty of the program. “I just don’t know.”

Councilor Chris Simon, a former Lebanon firefighter, suggested applying for fewer positions as a way to balance staffing needs against the financial uncertainty. Simon also said he favored authorizing Wheatley to apply for the grant because the council can refuse to accept the money if it is awarded. This would let the council put off a final decision until there is more data and a better understanding of the city budget.

The Lebanon Fire Department has been struggling with understaffing for years. Until this year, it had added one net new position since 2007, while call volume increased by about 60%, and numbers are still trending upward. As of May, the department has 29 firefighters, between two stations. 

Through May, the department responded to 150 more calls than in the same period last year. Also continuing to increase is the number of simultaneous calls for assistance, which requires more first responders. At current staffing levels, this has led to unsafe responses or left an insufficient number of firefighters free to answer additional calls, according to data compiled by Wheatley.

While setting a city budget for 2025, the council voted to add four new firefighter positions, which are partially funded by Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. Those four new employees started in April and May, Wheatley told the Council Wednesday. 

Wheatley has long maintained that eight positions would be enough to reach adequate staffing levels. But, he has also held that eight positions is an unrealistic increase to the city budget, over $1 million per year, and has taken it upon himself to fund the positions in alternate ways. 

This is not the first time Wheatley has applied for a SAFER grant; the city’s application for eight positions in 2023 was not approved.

The Council is taking steps this year to bring the city budget down after the 2025 budget-setting process drew an unusual level of public scrutiny and backlash about the rising tax rate last fall.

Ultimately, the Council approved a 7.8% tax rate increase for 2025. Going forward, residents will likely see a tax rate increase in the 7.5% range for the next two years, according to a May presentation on the city’s financial outlook. The tax rate is being driven up by debt service for capital projects, the rising cost of operating expenses and no longer using the city’s unassigned fund balance to cushion increases. 

One firefighter position is “undoubtedly something we need,” Assistant Mayor Devin Wilkie said, noting that the city would likely be able to pay for it. Meanwhile, two or more seems like a bigger risk when it comes to keeping costs down in the city budget, he said. 

Mayor Doug Whittlesey was one of the few councilors who said he would have supported applying for two positions, but took the council’s lead to vote for one.

His vote was driven by both “deep reservations” about the future of the SAFER program and FEMA itself, but also the “physical, mental and emotional burden that insufficient staffing can have on first-line responders.” 

Clare Shanahan can be reached at cshanahan@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.