FARMINGTON -- Farmington Fire Chief Larry Gregory knows how to do more with less.
His department is mostly staffed with part-time firefighters who are on call, carrying pagers so they can respond to any emergency.
"Some say we're not a real fire department because we don't have full-time people, but I beg to differ," Gregory said.
"I call them the cavalry. It's a good system. It works right now."
But he has high hopes that Farmington's city fathers will someday fund the fire department so it can be manned full time once the economy turns around.
And to that end, the city has renovated its public safety building that once housed both the fire department and the police department, said Max Forbush, city administrator.
The police department moved out in February to its $3 million new building, which is paid in part with police capital funds and a bond.
Now the upstairs of the 1989 building is being converted into bedrooms so that someday it can be manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The kitchen has been redone, and there is even a day room for firefighters to hang out in.
The city has spent about $350,000 on the project, Forbush said, which is almost what the fire department's annual budget is.
Gregory is budgeted $447,000 to run his department. Of that, about 85 percent goes toward wages and benefits. He and a captain are the only full-time employees at the station.
"We have a bare-bones budget," Gregory said. "It just covers the basics."
Farmington firefighters did not receive a cost-of-living increase or merit increase this year because of the economy.
The economy is not affecting just Farmington, but also squeezing the budgets of local public safety agencies across the Top of Utah.
Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner cut $600,000 from the $14 million budget of 2009-10.
That meant no cost-of-living increases or merit increases for his 144 sworn officers, 30 civilian and 30 part-time employees, Greiner said.
And the cost of health insurance has also increased.
South Davis Metro Fire Chief Jim Rampton said his department's 2009 budget has remained status quo. The proposed 2010 budget of $6.7 million is what the agency had budgeted for 2009.
Where he is seeing a decrease in revenues is in the ambulance service.
"People are still calling 911 as much as before," Rampton said, "but the inability to pay has increased because of lost jobs and no health insurance."
Rampton said there was a lot of growth when the economy was good. Now cities are trying to keep up with that growth, but sales taxes are down.
"You can't grow a fire department or a police department without funding," he said.
"It's impossible. The only answer is to raise taxes, and no one is wanting to do that."
Layton Police Chief Terry Keefe said funds have loosened up a bit so he can now hire six positions that were frozen earlier this year.
He, like other chiefs, had to cut operational expenses, as well as equipment expenses.
Layton's police budget went from $10,346,496 in 2008-09 to $10,345,512 for this fiscal year, said Steve Ashby, city finance director.
One of the issues the city faces is paying the state to lease space for the police department in 2010. The building where Layton police is housed is currently owned by the city. The state leases the upper floors for 2nd District Court, Ashby said.
In 2010, the state will take ownership of the building, Ashby said. The city is negotiating with the state to lease the lower floor for use by its police department.
"As far as the building, we're not in imminent need of a new facility," Keefe said.
About a year ago, it appeared the state may need the space currently occupied by the police, so city officials discussed the possibility of building a new police station.
But since then, state officials have indicated they do not need the space.
This will give the Layton city manager and city council time to decide where and when they want to build a new police station, Keefe said.
"Layton is faring better than other cities, but we're cognizant of the taxpayers' funds and make sure they are not wasted."
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