Now that the Fountain Hills Fire Department has completed one year as a town department, Fire Chief Dave Ott is set to move forward with an application for the department to participate in the regional automatic aid system.
In a presentation to the Town Council on Feb. 24, Ott said he would like to make personnel adjustments to the FY 2026 budget for the department to put it in a better position to participate in the automatic system. His proposal does not add positions but would include promotions within the department that add $220,000 to the personnel budget.
For the next fiscal year, the department would promote three captains to battalion chief, and then move up other personnel to backfill the positions. It would mean promotions for nine personnel and the wage and benefit increases that go with that. The base salary and benefit amount for next fiscal year is $4,475,000. This proposal would raise the amount to $4,695,000.
