A retiring Williamsport fire chief recently implored City Council not to cut a first-year firefighter position by attrition.

A majority of council listened, and voted against the measure.

Before the motion was made, retiring Fire Chief Sam Aungst sounded off with his displeasure of the possible vote, but also expressed understanding of the city’s financial strategy.

“Cutting even one firefighter from the Williamsport Bureau of Fire ranks would have a major, negative impact on our effectiveness, safety and our budget,” Aungst, who retires on Jan. 11, told the Sun-Gazette.

He also discussed with council how it would impact the present-day efforts on regionalization, including the alliance with South Williamsport.

A hard choice

Attrition, or temporarily eliminating positions after an employee leaves, is an admittedly difficult choice, officials said.

It’s one of the many strategies recommended by Public Financial Management (PFM), of Philadelphia, which is assisting the city on its strategic management planning process through the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

“I don’t think any of us like … I don’t like it at all, but …” Council President Adam Yoder said in a discussion with Aungst.

“I don’t want to freak out anybody in the administration,” Yoder said. If the consensus was not to do anything, he said, he could rescind the motion.

He then made a motion to start the dialogue and to reduce a firefighter first-year line item by 0.3, impacting salary and FICA, as clarified by Jamie Livermore, city finance director.

The 0.3 was meant to “backfill the potential retirement in 2026,” Yoder said.

By removing that 0.3 of the staff, that would eliminate the replacement should that individual retire, he said.

Saying he gathered feedback from the council and indirectly from the administration, Yoder said he thought, based on that information, that the department could manage.

“It is not optimal,” he remarked.

Impact on regionalization efforts

Aungst then stressed how he thought removing the position would have an impact on the regionalization efforts.

“We’re already trying to do it with limited manpower now,” Aungst said.

If the position was eliminated, it would have “created significantly more overtime,” he said.

“I will stand here and tell you that,” Aungst said, adding he understood where council was coming from, but said he thought it was a “huge mistake.”

Aungst noted that since he has been chief, Mayor Derek Slaughter increased the department by three personnel. “Which has been a tremendous help,” Aungst said.

Losing anyone was considered to be “very detrimental,” especially as the city is entering into regionalization efforts – such as the recently approved alliance with South Williamsport, providing coverage to the borough across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

A historical context revealed

Yoder said he understood the chief’s perspective.

“I understand where you are coming from,” Yoder said.

“I mean this truly, I don’t like it,” he noted, adding that he was hopeful it was a “temporary, two-year strategy to help us solidify that bridge to where we get the revenue flexibility, to where we hopefully not only bring it back but as that regionalization effort takes off – staff it as it would need to be.”

Aungst seemed to be accepting of the attrition concept, but also was curious about why the fire department was the first one selected.

“If I can ask this one question – Why is it always the fire department that is faced with layoffs?” Aungst asked.

He then reminded the legislative body of the city about the history of fire department layoffs.

In 1996, he said, the city laid off eight firefighters and never replaced them. That was followed in 1997 by another eight firefighters laid off and never replaced.

In the 2008-2009-2010 time period, Aungst said the city talked about the possible elimination of two firefighter positions, and, this year, the city looked at elimination of a position, he said.

“If you can just answer to that I’d really appreciate that,” Aungst said.

Yoder acknowledged that he did not have the institutional context that Aungst possessed.

He also said he really appreciated where the chief was coming from and understood the frustration.

“I can’t really answer those questions about history,” Yoder said.

“How I would answer that question is … you are not the only department that we are going to have a dialogue about,” Yoder said. “It is attrition,” he said. “We are not firing or cutting people; we are not replacing, temporarily,” he said. “I voted to hire new firefighters, most of us have,” he said, noting how the council totally got from where the department is from a staffing perspective.

“I think that reflects the desire of this to be a temporary measure and getting us into a better position going into 2027,” Yoder said. He reiterated how the city needed to get to a more solid financial position so that it can “backfill the position.”

The dialogue led to a question by Council Vice President Eric Beiter on the impending retirement and clarification on that matter. The fire member is planning to retire in January of 2027, Aungst said.

He said when the department knows somebody is leaving early in the year or late in the year, it hires for either the spring fire academy or fall fire academy.

That is so the firefighter is there and as soon as the retirement occurs, the firefighter is working. “We don’t miss a beat,” Aungst said.

“So you have the overlap,” Beiter said.

“Correct,” Aungst replied.

The individual retires (possibly Jan. 11, 2027) and the department would not be hiring until February.

“Until they get out of the fire academy, it would be closer to mid- to late-May.” he said.

“There would be several months where that position is not filled,” he noted.

There is no reimbursement from the state for the academy for the fire department, he explained to another question from Beiter.

Councilwoman Bonnie Katz also weighed in on the discussion.

She acknowledged how Aungst had been working on regionalization for several years and recognized his retirement in early January.

She then said she hoped the “person who is going to fill these awfully big shoes” is going to be able to take what you have started and go full force with this because I think this is where smaller townships are going to be going with regionalization,” she said. “I don’t want to lose the education and everything that goes on with this, because, like I said, you’ve worked your tail off for this,” Katz said.

In response to the statement on local, smaller, rural departments – Aungst said, “It’s not just the rural smaller departments – it’s every department,” he stressed.

“Every single volunteer fire department in Pennsylvania – they are leaving by the droves,” Aungst said.

When the department was reduced by 16 in the 1990s, there were volunteers who would come in and help, and kind of ease that burden, he added.

Today, there are about 13,000 volunteer firefighters who are certified to go into a burning building and put the fire out.

Meanwhile, in the 1970s, that figure was closer to 300,000, according to the chief. This is a massive decrease in volunteer firefighters, but also a decrease in organizations – “as many of you all know.”

“But they rely on us more than what we rely on them, but we absolutely rely on our volunteers as well,” he said.

It is commonplace, he said, for seven or eight fire companies to be dispatched to a fire on a first alarm.

“If we can’t provide that to ourselves, we can’t expect them to come in and help as well to that extent, I should say,” Aungst said.