ELKINS – Elkins City Council approved a budget of more than $1 million for the Fiscal Year 2027 Fire Fund.

During council’s April 21 meeting, the nine present council members voted to adopt the budget of $1,154,040. Third Ward council member Christopher Lowther was not present.

According to the agenda item report from the city, the Fire Fund Budget supports “the ongoing operations and service delivery of the Fire Department through its dedicated fund established by prior Council action.” The budget resolution states that city council finds the budget to be “in the best interests of the City of Elkins.”

The budget was presented by Elkins Fire Chief Steve Himes and City Treasurer Tracy Judy, and had earlier been recommended for approval by the city’s Finance Committee.

Before council voted, Judy explained that the balanced budget is made up of in-city fire fees, first-due fire fees and an additional contribution that the city will be making through the fiscal year. Judy noted that the cost of seemingly everything has gone up in recent years.

“Those who were on council when Chief Himes was in the need of another truck, we’re fortunate enough to have got it in early or it would have cost the xity much more than it has,” Judy told council. “So, we’re doing the best we can with these funds right now.”

Fourth Ward council member Andrew Carroll thanked Himes for the written budget presentation and asked him if there was anything he wanted the public to know regarding the budget. Himes said the majority of the budget goes towards having people in the station who can respond to emergencies “in seconds.”

According to the written presentation Himes gave the council, personal services, such as pay, make up 80.9% of the total budget request. Another 9.8% of the total request goes toward contractual services, such as utilities, training, maintenance on equipment, trucks and buildings, and more. Commodities, such as gas and diesel, uniforms and supplies, make up 2.1% of the total request, and 7.2% goes towards capital outlay for an overage on building maintenance, and payment on the department’s new engine.

Judy also asked Himes to explain what the Elkins Fire Department responds to, beyond just fires. Himes said the fire department has a duty to act, no matter the call.

“I would jokingly say if you can’t shoot it or put a band-aid on it, we get the call, and some of those calls really don’t amount to a large emergency, but to the caller it is,” Himes said. “It may be power lines. It may be brush fire, car fire, heavy equipment fire, building fire. If you are stuck somewhere that you are not supposed to be: water, over the hill, in a manhole, in a vehicle, under a vehicle.”

Judy said she wanted the public to understand just how much the Elkins Fire Department does, as her own department has had many conversations with people who dismissively think “Well, my house has never caught on fire.”

Himes also explained that the department has tried finding funding through alternative funding streams. He emphasized that this budget is to ensure the continuation of the department’s services.

“This budget is an operational budget to provide services,” Himes said. “Simple as that. There’s zero dollars in there to replace equipment. There is zero dollars in there for capital upgrades that, quite frankly, need to happen.”

Fifth Ward council member Burley Woods asked Himes what sustainability of services to the public would look like if the fire fee, which was established in 2015, is not raised at some point. Himes stated that the level of service would be hard to continue.

“We would not be able to sustain the level of service and we sure won’t be able to improve the level of service,” Himes said. “I would think that you would not want less.”

Elkins City Council will meet again on May 7 at 7 p.m. at the Phil Gainer Community Center.