The city initially applied for the SAFER grant in 2018 and in 2019 was awarded funding for six additional roles, according to city documents.
The grant is offered for three years, divided so the city is responsible for 25% of the funding for new personnel the first two years, while the grant will cover 75%. In the final year, the city is responsible for 65% of funding, while the grant will cover 35%, according to city documents.
Due to “the potential for budget constraints as a result of proposed internet sales tax sourcing rules,” the city chose to accept funding for only three positions initially, according to city documents.
With the city performing well during the pandemic and internet sales tax sourcing rules not posing the negative impact the city expected, the city decided to accept the three additional positions the SAFER grant is still willing to provide funding for, according to city documents.
The third year of grant funding began in March, so SAFER will provide 35% of funding for all six personnel.
The Roanoke City Council unanimously approved an action to authorize the employment of the SAFER grant’s funding for more fire personnel at a Feb. 22 council meeting.
The city of Roanoke’s firefighters are all trained as EMTs as well, fire Chief Chris Addington said, so the additional personnel will allow for quicker, full-staffed emergency responses.
Addington also said the additional staff members have improved fire department response times and will continue to do so.
“In the past, we've had to rely heavily on mutual aid,” Addington said. “[A larger staff] has kind of made us more autonomous where we can operate without having as much mutual aid and, in turn, are actually being better stewards to our neighbors and providing more mutual aid to them.”
