Dudley Budget Cuts Threaten to Cripple Public Safety Agencies
“I hope nobody has to lose their life to fix this.”
Dudley, Mass. - Within the town of Dudley, when you call 911 to report an emergency you can expect a Firetruck, Ambulance, or Police Car to be heading your way within minutes. With the failure of the Prop 2 ½ Override on June 12th, that expectation may no longer be guaranteed.
The Situation
On June 12th the town of Dudley held its annual town election. On the ballet were numerous positions for town officials, but a critical question sat at the bottom of the ballet. That question was a Prop 2 ½ override. The question failed.
What is Proposition 2 ½? Enacted in 1980, this Law established property tax limits that governments within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are required to abide by. Simply put within the town of Dudley’s June 12th voter fact sheet, “Proposition 2 ½ limits the town from raising its property tax revenue more than 2.5% each year”.
The Question;
Shall the Town of Dudley be allowed to assess an additional $2,668,797 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operational expenses for the Town of Dudley in the amount of $1,674,514 and for the purposes of operational expenses for the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District in the amount of $994,283, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023?
Further detailed in the town’s fact sheet, should the override pass, it would allow the town to price “level-services”, meaning no decrease in municipal and school services, in Fiscal Year 2024. Put plainly, “If Question 1 fails, services will be cut.”
Budget Cuts
With the failure of Question 1, cuts have become a reality. These cuts strike at all facets of public safety within the town of Dudley.
Fire Department Cuts*
Removal of 41 personnel
Layoff 2 full-time union Firefighters
Cut all per-diem and callback personnel
Reduction of overtime funds
No cancer screenings
Closure of the town beach due to inability to staff safety staff
*Cuts and repercussions discussed above are highlights not every line item to be affected.
Fire Department Cut Repercussions*
With the cuts to the Fire Department, staffing will fall to 2 members per shift, a total of 8 full-time firefighters. This means that a single ambulance can respond to an incident or a single fire truck… but the fire truck cannot safely fight the fire with only two members. Typically if more personnel were needed due to a large incident, or multiple calls, per-diem and call-back personnel would be utilized, but with the new cuts, these personnel no longer exist. If one of the 2 responders on duty for the shift calls out sick or gets injured there will be no choice but to stand down emergency services for the shift. One person cannot respond to a call safely and the minuscule overtime budget is expected to be exhausted early into the fiscal year, leaving the department no ability to bring in other full-time firefighters to work the extra shift.
The town won’t be left completely stranded. Currently, Dudley participates in multiple mutual aid agreements for fire and EMS coverage. If a surrounding town needs an apparatus or personnel, for a major incident or an incident they are unable to staff, Dudley responds mutual aid and they can ask the same in return. With the new minimal staffing, Dudley will no longer be able to hold up their side of the agreement and the surrounding town can only be expected to provide help and never receive any in return for so long.
Currently, the Dudley Fire Department is able to gain revenue through billable medical calls. With the inability to staff both of their two ambulances more calls for mutual aid will be required to ensure medical calls are answered within the town. The neighboring towns, that are willing to respond, also maintain the right to bill the patients they care for. This is expected to cost the Dudley Fire Department, and therein the town, over $100k per fiscal year in lost revenue. The department also risks losing its EMS license due to an inability to fund state-mandated requirements.
On top of all of this, the Dudley Fire Department has historically received a yearly staffing grant of $500k. This grant requires a minimum number of personnel to be funded by the town. With these cuts, the Fire Department will fall under these minimums and be disqualified from receiving the grant.
*Cuts and repercussions discussed above are highlights not every line item to be affected.
Police Department Cuts*
Removal of Personnel
2 Full-Time Officers
Administrative Assistant
All Reserve Officers
All part-time Officers
Remove uniform budget
Reduce Fuel budget cut by $10k
Reduce Training budget by $15k
*Cuts and repercussions discussed above are highlights not every line item to be affected.
Dudley Police cruiser parked in front of the Police Department. Courtesy of Dudley Police Department Facebook page
Police Department Cut Repercussions*
With the cuts to Police Department staffing, officers will be pulled from collateral duties, the Lieutenant will be placed in a cruiser and the school resource officer will be put back on a standard assignment. There will not be appropriate staffing to man the desk for the public, or to conduct drug and gun take-back days. In a day and age where community policing and events are crucial, the department will not have the resources available to fund these programs.
With the reduction in fuel budget, the Police Department is expected to transition to a reactive posture instead of its current proactive posture. You will see officers parked at the station until a call comes in, instead of patrolling the roadways and already being minutes ahead of the call or spotting incidents as they happen. All to reduce fuel costs to remain within the budget.
Similar to the Fire Department, the Police Department utilizes mutual aid agreements with surrounding towns. There are already shifts where the staffing is not available for Dudley to support other towns in this agreement. With these cuts, they will rarely be able to support, resulting in other towns sending help but never receiving any until they decide it is no longer mutually beneficial.
Three years ago Dudley taxpayers approved the funding to lease a police cruiser with the understanding that an increase of approximately $20k yearly would be required to maintain the lease. With these cuts, this will not be possible.
*Cuts and repercussions discussed above are highlights not every line item to be affected.
Highway Department Cuts*
Remove Personnel
1 Laborer
1 Truck Driver
1 Foreman
Remove contracts for hazardous tree removal
Reduce road paint and signage repair budgets
Reduce the budget for roadway patching
Reduce the budget for equipment maintenance
Snow and Ice budget remain the same as last year (Typically receives a 20% yearly increase for material inflation)
*Cuts and repercussions discussed above are highlights not every line item to be affected.
Highway Department Cut Repercussions*
Highway impacts will likely not be immediately seen, but in time they will come. The inability to patch the roadways following the winter season, the inability to hire contract crews to cut back hazardous trees impacting the roadways, and limited funding to repair signage damaged in vehicle accidents and storms. Dudley Highway Superintendent Jeff Murray stated at the June 26th town meeting, “Should we have a harsh winter, at the cost of just the road salt, our $95k line item for [snow removal] leaves us with just enough money to buy road salt” plow drivers will still need to be paid.
The town also receives numerous grants based on the Highway Department. With these cuts, the town will not be able to meet the requirements for these grants due to the inability to match funds, have required staff, and meet the vehicle maintenance requirements for the grants.
*Cuts and repercussions discussed above are highlights not every line item to be affected.
So here we are
These cuts put departments at their absolute bare minimum to operate, leaving no room for realities: personnel call out, get sick and injured, large-scale disasters happen, major storms are a thing, and bad people travel through town.
In order to immediately put the budget in place at the start of the fiscal year, numerous personnel have already been furloughed or laid off. As of June 21st, per diem and call-back firefighters have already been laid off, and the 2 career members will officially start their layoff on July 1st. This makes the repercussions discussed above a near reality. At this point in time, the town of Dudley has no fire personnel to respond to calls other than its minimal career staff. Firefighters from within the department, as well as surrounding departments, are all saying the same thing, “I hope nobody has to lose their life to fix this.”
While Fire Department cuts have been immediate, police and highway cuts may take longer to become apparent. As discussed by Dudley’s Police Chief Marek Karlowicz during the June 20th town meeting, officers and tactics may not need to immediately be cut or changed but in a month or two the changes will need to happen in order to remain within the allocated budget.
The town of Dudley has been placed in a potentially disastrous position. While these public safety agencies are technically able to perform their duties with the budget proposed, they are unable to conduct their duties to the fullness the town deserves.
These cuts will be further discussed at the Dudley Board of Selectman meeting at 7 pm on Monday, June 26th, at the Town Hall, 71 West Main St. Members of the Dudley Fire Department, as well as other area departments, will be present beginning at 4 pm to show solidarity with the responders affected.