Last week's

front-page story by Citizen reporter John Munford could hardly make it

any plainer: Peachtree City Fire Department needs additional staffing,

and has needed it ever since the current administration moved into City

Hall.

A comment was

made at the recent City Council Retreat that the fire department's hiring

request would cost citizens more in increased taxes than they'd save in

lower insurance premiums.

Hang the increased

capability it would give the department to serve Peachtree City. Just

focus on the money.

The department

is, reluctantly, willing to settle for hiring and equipping nine firefighters

in the upcoming fiscal year. This would give each of the three 24-hour

shifts an additional three firefighters, bringing the total on-shift personnel

to 15 ­ and wouldupgrade our ISO rating from Class 4 to Class

3, which could result in lower insurance premiums for most Peachtree City

homeowners.

"Staffing is more than just attaining ISO Class 3 which is a property

and insurance issue," Fire Chief Stony Lohr has said. "It is

safety for citizens and safety for firefighters, and effectiveness, and

meeting standards, and better ability to respond to larger emergencies,

and reducing liability."

Yet the city

denied the chief's request.

Even if three

more firefighters per shift are added, the department still would not

meet national standards for responding to one fire call and one EMS call

simultaneously.

I use cautious

words like "could" and "most" because there are too

many variables to say flatly that everyone would get a cut in insurance

premiums, but the range for moving from Class 4 to Class 3 averages an

8 percent saving.

I won't write

it all out ­ it's beyond confusing to number-challenged people like

me ­ but I'll give you the bottom line. A homeowner with a house

worth $200,000 would pay roughly 8 percent less on his $800 insurance

costs, or $64.

Six firefighters

and three captains, with equipment, would cost a total of $549,380, or

an additional 0.404 mills per year. (One mill generates an annual $1,359,191

for the city.) That $200,000 house has an assessed property value of 40%,

or $80,000, and its taxes would rise about $32.32.

The homeowner

saves a net $31.68 per year.

Think about

that for a moment. To the owner of a $200,000 house, $31.68 a year is

pocket change. The money is not the point. A properly staffed and equipped

emergency crew is the point.

About five

years ago, the department launched a program to achieve national accreditation.

We had new people in the department who brought with them the kind of

expertise it would take for PCFD to be one of three nationally accredited

fire departments in Georgia.

Fire Chief

Gerald Reed's long illness and absence from the office slowed the process

somewhat. After he died, more time was lost in reorganizing the department.

And at about the time we began going aggressively after accreditation

again, the new denizens of City Hall slowed that quest to a crawl.

Had those difficult

times not come together when they did, there's no doubt we'd have enough

personnel now, plus at least one of the two new fire stations we need,

and for sure, a Class 3 ISO rating.

Instead, we're

still where we were three years ago, and about to bring in a consultant.

Ironically, this one will be welcomed by Lohr and his people; they know

they may actually fair better by having a third party tell City Hall what

the department already knows about itself.

Let's talk

about consultants. Through city spokesperson Betsy Tyler, Paul Salvatore,

the city's finance guy, says the city has always supplemented our payrolled

work force by hiring "outside" help on an ad hoc basis. "We

can gain efficiency by hiring temporary help that is well versed and experienced

in dealing with special projects on a regular basis, rather than pulling

busy staff away from their regular duties," Betsy said.

She continued

most of them last year. They include a storm water utility consultant

(due to state mandate), an Information Technology consultant (evaluating

computer networks due to departmental reorganization and recent security

threat concerns), a fleet consultant because of a possible capital investment

in garage facilities, plus "people we regularly consult with regarding

insurance and pension matters."

That list ran

to more than $102,500. I can see why new technology, like a computer system,

would be worthy of hiring temporary assistance, and a pension/insurance

consultant should generate enough savings to be worthwhile.

But it is not

true to say that we have always supplemented the staff with outside

consultants. I don't recall its happening when I was on city council,

and I don't recall that it was routine during the years I covered various

governmental meetings.

The Airport

Authority did engage a fellow ­ maybe still does ­ whose raison

d'etre was to secure FAA money for runways and such. He most certainly

generated a return in the millions of dollars.

Frances Meaders,

city clerk from about 1973 to 1995, said her recollections are a lot like

mine. "In thinking back I know we used them quite a bit in purchasing

computers and software but then not too many of us knew anything about

computers," she said. She also remembers that the Georgia Municipal

Association gave us legal advice as we developed our ordinances and pay

scales.

"I think

probably we used consultants for building projects like City Hall and

the amphitheater, but until about 20 years ago we relied on GMA, University

of Georgia, Georgia Tech, etc. for mostly free data and help." She

added, "I just heard Stony [Lohr, the Fire Chief] speak at Rotary

and wondered why we needed to pay $30,000 to consultants when it is already

known what is needed. That money could go toward personnel."