By Josh Pike | Staff Writer
At their Dec. 13 meetings, the Pagosa Fire Protection District (PFPD) Board of Directors and PFPD Firemen’s Pension Fund Board of Directors approved budgets for 2023.
Prior to the approval of the pension fund budget, Fire Chief Randy Larson highlighted that transfers from the PFPD general fund had been adjusted slightly due to updated property assessments from the county and that the fund had been “hit hard” in 2022 due to stock market declines.
The pension fund budget includes an expected $563,526 in additions to the fund and total disbursements of $364,859.
The net position restricted for pension at the end of 2023 is expected to be $3,268,492, up from the projected end-of-year 2022 net position of $3,069,825.
The 2022 projected investment loss for the fund in 2022 is $735,151.
The PFPD board also approved the PFPD budget for 2023.
Larson explained that there were no public comments made on the budget and that there had been minor changes made to the budget since the property valuations provided by the county had decreased from the projected numbers, although he noted that this change “made less than $3,000 difference in our funds.”
The PFPD budget message states that the district is placing a priority on increasing staff pay and training in 2023 as well as adding promotional opportunities through an operational realignment creating three new fire driver/operator positions in the district, which will create a new step in the promotional ladder for the district.
The message also indicates that in 2022 the district paid off all current debt and has been able to remain slightly under budget.
The budget includes $3,021,984 in total revenues balanced by $3,129,426 in total expenses, including $225,000 in capital outlay for new vehicles.
The fund balance at the end of 2023 is expected to be $509,707, down from the $867,149 projected at the end of 2022.
josh@pagosasun.com
