Fostoria police, fire dept. audits propose changes

10/7/2005

FOSTORIA A state performance audit of Fostoria s police and fire departments recommends changes that could save the city more than $65,000 a year.

The results of the audit were presented Tuesday to Fostoria City Council. Betsy Bashore of the Ohio Auditor s Office said the audit determined that Fostoria s police officers respond to three times the number of calls that officers handle in comparable cities such as Defiance, despite having lower staffing.

Ms. Bashore said the city could save $47,000 a year by filling three road patrol vacancies, reducing overtime costs, and lowering officers workload. She also recommended lowering the number of yearly holidays for police officers from 13 to 10 and suggested buying three new cruisers, a move she said would save more than $11,000 a year on repair costs.

In the fire department, the audit suggested improving the procedure for collecting EMS fees, reducing the number of yearly personal days for firefighters from four to two, and reducing a uniform allowance from $600 to $400 a year.