Eagan Officials: 'Post-9/11' Safety Needs Drive New Budget

EAGAN, MN — "Post-9/11" public safety needs are driving the proposed 2018 and 2019 city of Eagan budgets reviewed by the City Council Aug. 8, officials announced in a news release this month. The primary purpose of the meeting was to review the preliminary General Fund Budget and property tax levy to assure adjustments can be made before the preliminary levy must be set by the end of September.

Read the city's statement about the proposed budget below:

A total of 12 new fulltime fire positions and 5 new police officers have been requested over the two years. People may not know that Eagan is the second largest volunteer fire department in the state, but with increasing training/certification demands, there’s been a decreasing supply of volunteers.

Volunteer firefighters have to juggle their fulltime jobs and family commitments, while still meeting the same state certifications as fulltime fire personnel. That already requires about 260 hours of training in basic firefighting and emergency rescue.

But in our post-9/11 world, many more certifications—another 100 hours’ worth—are necessary to meet state certification in terrorism-related training including decontamination methods and hazardous material fires. Eagan's been losing 17 trained volunteer firefighters a year.

The Eagan Fire Department is at a pivotal juncture. Having already evaluated a number of ways to keep the all volunteer force, including dorm housing and signing up for paid shifts to act as standby duty crews at the station. Like every other volunteer department across the country, there have been instances where lack of available firefighters has affected quick response.

A recent staffing study by a professional firm confirmed this and recommended a small career firefighter force is necessary, supplemented with its dedicated volunteers to ensure a predictable response 24/7.

Timely fire response matters, because a fire doubles in size every minute and response times are a factor in setting business and homeowner insurance rates.

The additional police officers will mostly be in the patrol division concentrating on crime prevention and investigations, but the increased staffing will also help alleviate traffic issues in and around new development in northeast Eagan and meet service demands arising from new retail areas and hotels.

While the number of city staff and Eagan's tax levy will be going up under the proposed plan, additional growth in the tax base will offset a portion of the tax increase to residents and businesses.

Council is scheduled to adopt the 2018 preliminary budget and levy on September 5 with final approval in December. Additional information will be forthcoming on the city's website, newsletter and other communication channels.

• Watch the 2018-2019 Draft Budget Presentation from the Aug. 8 Special City Council Meeting

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