By Taylor Montford
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Baltimore County Council on Monday appropriated an extra $494,666 in federal and local funds to the 2020 budget so that the county can hire 28 additional firefighters next summer.
The supplemental appropriation will cover the salaries and fringe benefits of the new hires and increase the number of budgeted firefighters in the county to 734, a 4 percent increase.
“I’ve said it before, but I’d like to say again how these 28 firefighters are going to provide a tremendous service to the citizens,” said Council member Julian E. Jones, Jr., D-4th District. “You can only imagine what a difference this job will make to one of those people, one of those 28 and their families.”
Of the money appropriated, $371,000 comes from the federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant while $123,666 comes from local taxpayers.
Jones commended the fire department for applying for the SAFER Grant and asking the federal government for funds. Councilman David Marks, R-5st District, said he was pleased to see the county seizing more of these grant opportunities and looks forward to the results.
Jones, a former firefighter himself, reflected on the importance of the fire department’s role in communities.
“It was some of the most memorable days of my life,” Jones said. “When I look back, everything it has afforded me and my family, the contributions I made to society and the number of people I saved and helped along the way. I think it’s just a tremendous thing.”
The Fire Department is currently processing applications for a recruitment class that is scheduled to begin in March 2020 and end with a graduation the following July. The 28 probationary firefighters would be assigned to fire stations throughout the county.
The county received the three-year, $2.7 million SAFER grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that runs from March 11, 2020 to March 10, 2023. The money is designed to help the county comply with the staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association, county documents say.
Under the grant’s rules, the federal government covers 75 percent of the cost of the 28 firefighters during the first two years of the program and 35 percent in the final year. The county’s total matching requirement during the three-year period will be $1.7 million. When the grant program expires after 2023, the county would have to budget $1.8 million a year to keep the 28 firefighters.
The department will begin hiring these probationary employees in spring of 2020.
On another issue, the council unanimously approved a $300,000 private grant that would improve the Baltimore County Police Department’s sexual assault investigations.
The funds would be used for testing historical biological evidence, Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) kits and slides, salary costs for one new part-time police assistant, overtime for existing department personnel, travel and training funds, and equipment, Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa R. Hyatt said.
The Hackerman Foundation, a local non-profit, awarded the money to the county in an effort to further improve the department’s “ability to investigate and test cold-case biological evidence in sexual assault cases and to enhance all sexual assault investigations.”