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Dozens of fire departments across New Mexico are set to share nearly $25 million in state funding to help pay for more firefighters and EMTs.
The New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration awarded $24.9 million in grants to 59 public entities to help offset the cost of new firefighter and EMT salaries for three years. The funding is expected to help hire 190 new firefighters and EMT positions statewide.
The governing bodies for the cities of Rio Communities and Belen recently approved grant agreements that would help the municipalities hire much-needed, additional first responders.
The city of Rio Communities will be receiving a total of $656,250 for five to six positions, while the city of Belen received $262,500 for two positions.
Funds will be disbursed over three years, with the first year at 100 percent, the second year at 50 percent and 25 percent on the third and final year. Any amount not expended will have to be returned to the NMDFA.
The other local departments that applied for and received funding are Bosque Farms, Los Lunas and Valencia County.
The Valencia County Fire Department was awarded a total of $918,750 from the recruitment grant for six firefighters and three paramedic positions.
The nine positions were previously approved by the Valencia County Commission and will now be paid for totally and in part by the grant for the next three years, reducing the cost to the county’s general fund.
The Los Lunas Village Council approved a $131, 250 grant allocation at the Sept. 12 council meeting through the firefighter recruitment fund, which will go toward “the offset of cost for new firefighters and EMT recruits to help improve response times, improve ISO ratings and supplement existing paid organizations with additional trained responders.”
Los Lunas finance director Cheryl Cates said the phased-in grant funding will allow the village to add one additional firefighter position.
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The $131,250 granted to the village of Bosque Farms for recruitment will hopefully go to hiring a full-time EMS director, said Village Clerk/Administrator Michael Limon.
“I applied with the intent to see if the village would even qualify. The village’s current budget is a copy-paste scenario from the year prior, so we have not budgeted for this kind of disbursement,” Limon said. “I am working with my treasurer and my deputy clerk to see if we can properly utilize this funding to find a solution to the village’s lack of EMS presence for our community.
“I would like to utilize this funding to hire a full-time director. Currently, with my study of wages of EMS, I believe this funding will only provide one position for the village. We would have to continue to operate our EMS department with stipends to have paramedics in the field.”
During the 2024 legislative session, state leaders stated rural and remote areas of the state have struggled with fire and emergency medical response due to extended response times, large coverage areas, a lack of firefighters and EMTs.
“Firefighters are on the front lines protecting our communities from potentially devastating blazes everyday,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. “As fires — and especially wildfires — grow more frequent and more intense in and around New Mexico communities, it makes good sense to provide them with the resources to protect people, pets, livestock, and property.”
Rio Communities
Rio Communities Fire Chief Andrew Tabet told city councilors at a recent meeting the department is in need of additional paid personnel due to an increase in the number of calls for service — both medical and fire.
“This will allow us to have a 48-hour shift, and we’ll be able to cover seven days a week,” Tabet said. “This is due to having an increase in calls and an increase in transports we have to do because of the lack of AMR units.”
Tabet explained to the council that with the added personnel, the department will be able to have three shifts with himself and his deputy chief still on a 40-hour work week. He said there will be three paid personnel working each shift, augmented by volunteers.
The chief said he and other fire chiefs from the county and across the state were able to attend this year’s legislative session and lobbied for this funding, saying he was “very pleased” with the outcome.
“This will be a tremendous help for our station; we’ve never had anything like this,” Tabet said. “It will also help us with the EMS side ... and it’ll be good protection for the city.”
The chief said because the local ambulance company has not been able to routinely man enough rigs for the county, local fire departments have had to take up the slack and transport patients to the hospital on their own. Tabet also said the Rio Communities Fire Department has applied for a certificate of transport from the New Mexico Public Regulations Commission to charge patients for the service.
Councilor Tom Nelson said while he’s “all for the grant,” he’s concerned about the funding system in that the city will have to find additional funds within the budget to cover the positions in the second and third years of the grant.
Rio Communities City Manager Marty Moore said he would like the council to begin working on a revenue plan.
“Our recommendation is to form a solid plan from the city council, and we’ll bring a proposal (to the council) in October,” Moore said.
Tabet asked the council to approve the grant agreement that night, saying there was a deadline in place.
“The problem right now is a lack of firefighters,” the chief said. “The reason is because there’s state-wide and country-wide problem getting firefighters. People don’t want to be firefighters anymore.
“We’re very fortunate and blessed to have as many volunteers as we do,” he added. “For us to obtain grants and a better ISO, we need better coverage for our city and for our residents, and this is the way to go.”
Councilor Art Apodaca said the city, at this point, has little income but the calls for service has increased.
“We will continue to support you and we need to continue the work, on our part, and plan for the future,” Apodaca said. “But we can’t stop the progress now, and we need to provide what your department needs.”
Rio Communities Mayor Joshua Ramsell suggested the council start talking about and possibly consider a mill-levy increase to offset the costs of the additional fire department personnel.
“The city has not had ... in about 10 years, a mill-levy rate increase,” Ramsell said. “Now, the amount of city services have doubled, tripled and quadrupled over the last few years, and we’re at a point where people are wanting these services, like public safety and road repairs. We all want these things, and we need to support it and have to be willing to pay for them.”
Councilor Matthew Marquez asked if the city would have to lay off employees if they couldn’t find the funding to contribute in the second and third year of the grant.
“Right now, we’re in a state of emergency,” Tabet said. “We are answering calls that we don’t have manpower for.”
Ramsell said because these positions are a reoccurring expense, the city will have to budget for them beyond the three-year grant.
“All of us need to make sure we’re paying for the resources we need,” the mayor said. “It’s something to consider. We’re not saying right now that we need to make a decision, but we can’t reduce the impact this will have on residents.
“At some point, we’re going to have a full-time police department and full-time fire department. There’s no other funding source.”
Ramsell said the city council does have the option of enacting a mill levy without voter approval and, if it is approved, it wouldn’t go into effect until June 2025.
The councilors unanimously approved the grant agreement, and also relayed a need to meet in a workshop and public forum to discuss a possible property tax increase.
Belen
The Belen City Council approved its grant agreement with NMDFA last week for the Belen Fire Department funding.
Belen Fire Chief Charles Cox said while they are in need of more positions the $262,500 allows for, he is grateful for any additional funding that would help recruit more personnel to the Belen Fire Department.
“When we applied for the grant, we applied for four positions. We were granted two positions,” Cox said. “Two is better than none.”
He also said the city’s finance department would also need to submit a quarterly report to NMDFA pertaining to the progress on the grant.
“As you know, our run count has increased greatly,” the fire chief said. “I know you are aware of the situation with AMR and response time in the city and in the county.
“Right now, you had budgeted for three more hires, and this would make it five,” Cox said. “We need a total of six fire/EMS personnel per shift. That means we need a dedicated EMS crew.”
The fire chief said with the lack of personnel, the fire department is sometimes running short on crew members when others are having to transport patients to Albuquerque.
“The optimum is four but, right now, a lot of the time we only have three on shift,” he said. “We do need these two extra squads and I’m hoping the council will approve this resolution.”
Belen Mayor Robert Noblin asked if this was a similar grant that was awarded last year for police recruitment. Cox said it is a similar type of grant.
Councilor Steve Holdman also asked if there was any issue of binding a future council with this funding structure.
Daniel Carbajal, the city’s finance director, told Holdman the employees would be identified as being paid from the approved three-year grant.
The Belen City Council also unanimously approved entering into the grant agreement with the NMDFA.
