SAUGUS – The finance committee is discussing the public safety budget with the police and fire departments, and what they would entail in the upcoming years.

Finance Committee Chair Kenneth DePatto and Town Manager Scott Crabtree attended Wednesday’s meeting, and Fire Chief Michael Newbury and Assistant Chief of Police Ronald Giorgetti spoke about each department’s budget as well.

Newbury first gave an overview of the fire department’s budget and explained how past priorities are now coming into motion– with a new pumper and ladder truck on their way. The tentative arrivals for the pumper will be by April 2025 and the ladder June 2026.

He explained enhancements made applicable due to the state and general grant opportunities. Some of these included new cascade systems for air masks, an upgrade in radio communication systems, and a hood to block out cancer particles.

“With the support of the town manager and financial team, we’ve been able to apply for and successfully utilize those grants for capital purchases,” said Newbury.

Currently, there are 59 members on staff, which is the most the department has had in its history.

“If you look at industry standards… the baseline is 600-800 calls a year to justify a position, so we are outpacing that just with a command vehicle.”

Newbury went on to express gratitude for these actions.

“Between getting grants and growing the department,” said Newbury, “this has probably been the greatest improvement of my career.”

The department and community growth this year has also caused a growth as well in emergency calls and responses. Out of the 5,300 calls they received, 747 were false alarms.

DePatto raised a question regarding how many of these were commercial, and Newbury answered that the majority of those were commercial.

“When we talk about false alarms, there’s also a responsibility driving emergency vehicles down the road,” said Newbury, “That’s why we emphasize false alarms and getting systems to improve, because going down the road for no reason is really important.”

This discussion ended with a concern about having the right equipment due to the increase in flooding, to which Newbury responded, “The answer is yes. We have that rescue truck and several trailers with equipment on them. Never mind pumps, but hoses, and all the equipment we need.”

Assistant Police Chief Ronald Giorgetti then presented the Police Department’s budget request on behalf of Chief Michael Ricciardelli.

“The majority of the line items were level-funded based on the previous budget,” Giorgetti said.

Giorgetti said there is a contractually obligated increase of $85,159 for salaries and wages in the budget, and an additional $12,688 for salaries and part time.

The overtime budget, he said, was increased by $25,000 for the budget.

“With the increase of contractual obligations, we sought an increase just to cover that,” he said.

Giorgetti said the budget includes an additional fund request of $24,648 to cover new technology the department has taken on and to replace some of its aged equipment.

Crabtree said that both the Police and Fire departments are constantly in the process of hiring new employees, and that many people don’t understand the amount of time required to hire people in these fields.

“When you’re hiring police and fire, especially with police, they have to get prep, they have to do all kinds of things,” Crabtree said. “It could be a year to a year and half between the initial calling to those positions to actually getting them on the street.”

DePatto said that next week’s committee meeting will focus on the budget request for the town’s school department.