2017-18 Superstition Fire and Medical District budget $276,000 ‘out of balance’

by Richard H Dyer | Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent

It was a nearly packed house at the district offices of the Superstition Fire and Medical District the evening of May 17. Firefighters and local residents filled the seats and stood in back of the board room for the monthly meeting of the SFMD Governing Board at 565 N. Idaho Road.

Five people spoke during the call-to-the-public portion of the meeting, primarily on concerns about the 2017-18 budget and that fire district staff have not yet provided a balanced budget for next fiscal year.

Fire district officials have been working on reducing costs for the budget, Fire Chief Paul Bourgeois said. At the board’s April 19 meeting, he said the initial forecasted budget challenge was to make reductions totalling $1,705,985. Senior leadership reduced that amount to $283,758 by cutting from a variety of programs, he said last month.

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