Where’s the money in Dublin? Fire Department budget, shortfall investigated

DUBLIN — The town is in consideration of how best to enable the Fire Department to meet grant application requirements while getting bills paid for utilities and insurance.

The department pays them from its general fund budgeting. According to minutes of this month’s town commissioner meeting, the fire district president said there is potentially $15,000 that is unaccounted.

• What happened: Fire Chief Pete Batton asked that “the town board pay utilities at the Fire Department, as well as insurance, which is approximately $23,000 for both,” say the minutes from Town Clerk Ashley Matthews.

Batton requested that this amount be separate from the annual budget amount.

Further discussions yielded a potential discrepancy of $15,000 that is unaccounted for, according to Fire District President Gene Lockamy.

• Why it matters: Lockamy said it affects applications for state grants. Public Works Director Jonathan Ward stated that if the Fire Department’s budget is over $200,000, then they are ineligible for state grants.

Batton said he had to request money from the fire district in order to make it through the rest of the budget year. Mayor Darryl Dowless inquired on how much he had “pulled from the district.”

• Next: Commissioner David Kirby asked the town clerk to check with the town’s accountant regarding Batton’s request.

Additionally the discrepancy will be investigated with the town’s accountant for “clarity.”