Agency Overview

The Fire Department's mandate is to protect lives and property from fires and related disasters. The Department has 71 fire-fighting command posts including headquarters, divisions, battalions, and a citywide special operations command. There are 410 fire-fighting and supervisory units (strategically placed in over 250 firehouses throughout the City) whose primary responsibilities are to extinguish, prevent, and investigate fires, and conduct fire safety education and fire prevention activities. In addition to these roles, the Fire Department also responds to calls for utility emergencies, building collapses, hazardous material incidents, and water main breaks.

In Fiscal 1996, the City Council voted to merge the citywide Emergency Medical Service (EMS) with the Fire Department. The merger, which took place on March 17, 1996, placed all of the administrative functions of EMS under the auspices of the Fire Department. The Fire Department's intention is to create a "neighborhood-based" EMS system, patterned after the neighborhood firehouses found throughout the City.

Current Budget Summary

The April 2004 Capital Commitment Plan includes $210.5 million in Fiscals 2005-2008 for the Fire Department (City funds only). This represents less than one percent of the City’s total $32.3 billion January Plan for Fiscals 2005-2008. The agency's April Commitment Plan for Fiscals 2005 - 2008 is 21.4 percent less than the $267.9 million in the September Commitment Plan, a decrease of $57.4 million. The difference between the April and September Plans is a result of the rolling of capital funds for projects not completed in the previous fiscal year. Over the past five years, the FDNY has only committed an average of 48.2 percent of its annual capital plan. Therefore, it is assumed that a large portion of the agency's Fiscal 2004 capital plan will be rolled into Fiscal 2005 thus greatly increasing the size of the Fiscal 2005-2008 capital plan. Since adoption last June, the Capital Commitment Plan for Fiscal 2004 has fallen from $131.8 million to $123.1 million, an increase of $8.7 million or 6.6 percent.

As part of the Fiscal 2004 budget process, the Council adopted new appropriations and re-appropriations for the Fire Department that totaled $398.2 million in City funds. These appropriations are to be used to finance FDNY’s $128.6-million Fiscal 2004 City-funded capital commitment program. The agency has over three times the funding it needs to meet its entire capital commitment program for the current fiscal year.

The Fire Department's capital commitments for the last five years are shown below:

FIVE YEAR HISTORY – CAPITAL BUDGET ($ in millions)
	FY99	FY00	FY01	FY02	FY03
CITY	66	49	120	149	81
NON-CITY	0	0	0	0	18
TOTAL	66	49	120	149	99

The Adopted Four-Year Capital Plan is shown below:

ADOPTED CAPITAL BUDGET – SEPTEMBER 2003 ($ in millions)
	FY04	FY05	FY06	FY07	FY’s 04-07
CITY	128.6	34.1	66.0	35.9	264.6
NON-CITY	3.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.2
TOTAL	131.8	34.1	66.0	35.9	267.9

The Executive Four-Year Capital Plan is shown below:

EXECUTIVE CAPITAL PLAN – APRIL 2004 ($ in millions)
	FY05	FY06	FY07	FY08	FY’s 05-08
CITY	86.7	62.5	32.6	28.7	210.5
NON-CITY	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.1
TOTAL	86.7	62.5	32.6	28.7	210.5

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding.
EXECUTIVE BUDGET ISSUES:

° Emergency Communications Transformation Program. The April Plan removes from the Fire Department’s Fiscal 2005 capital budget a combined $17.4 million, of which $8.7 million was planned for a joint FDNY/NYPD emergency call center backup site (PSAC II) and $8.7 million was planned for a project that would combine the current FDNY and NYPD E911 call centers at one location. Additionally, the April Plan removes $26.2 million in NYPD Fiscal 2005 capital funding for the PSAC II project. However, the April Plan adds to the capital budget of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) $1.3 billion over Fiscals 2005 – 2008 for a new “Emergency Communication Transformation Program” (ECTP). According to the Fiscal 2005 Executive Budget Message of the Mayor, the $1.3-billion ECTP will serve “to develop an integrated 911 system that will enhance the City’s emergency response system” and “will include development of an integrated dispatch system, an upgraded telecommunications structure, and redundant call-taking and dispatch centers.” It is assumed that DoITT will oversee the project and that the funding will be used to: (1) acquire land and construct PSAC II; (2) equip PSAC II and upgrade equipment at PSAC I; and (3) combine, upgrade and integrate all facets and components of FDNY, EMS, and NYPD E911 operations. Besides the above-mentioned cursory statement from the Mayor’s Message, no details about this overhaul of the City’s emergency communications and response system – including policy changes, time lines, labor issues, the effect on existing E911-related contracts, and detailed capital projects with in-depth cost projections etc. – have been made available.

[Note: The April 2004 Financial Plan also proposes 19 new positions in the Expense Budget starting in Fiscal 2005 for ECTP personnel: five NYPD positions for $450,000; five FDNY positions for $445,000; and nine additional DoITT positions for $675,000. Additionally, DoITT’s Expense Budget would increase by $20 million in Fiscal 2005 and $48 million in Fiscal 2006 and the outyears for maintenance costs relating to ECTP equipment.]

° Emergency Dispatch System Projects. The Fire Department currently uses two emergency dispatch systems. The first, known as “Starfire” and developed in the late 1970’s, dispatches firefighters; the second dispatches Emergency Medical Service (EMS) staff. In the 1990’s, attempts were made to combine the two dispatch systems into a single system known as “Starfire II,” but the Department was unable to integrate the technologies. For a number of years, the Department had been proposing to install a new, integrated emergency dispatch system known as Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD). In fact, the January Plan included $24.5 million for the CAD system.

The April Plan now proposes a new CAD system project known as “Citywide CAD” with $4.8 million in Fiscal 2004 and $13.6 million in Fiscal 2005. This new project may or may not incorporate the citywide effort to integrate dispatch technologies of all emergency responders under the Emergency Communication Transformation Program (ECTP). The “Starfire II” project still has $3.9 million in Fiscal 2004, presumably to be used by the FDNY’s systems integrator to incorporate the FDNY’s new CAD system into its existing dispatch structure.

The NYPD, which currently uses an emergency dispatch system that is technologically different from both the FDNY and EMS systems, is currently under contract with Hewlett Packard (HP) to develop a new police CAD system. This contract, which was registered before the ECTP project was announced, did not specify that the police CAD system should be compatible with other NYC emergency dispatch systems. In an attempt to rectify this actual or potential incompatibility, the April Plan reduces the FDNY’s emergency dispatch communications equipment project by $3.35 million in Fiscal 2004 and transfers this funding, along with most of the FDNY’s overall $2.2-million CAD system reduction, to two NYPD CAD system projects. This $5.1 million in funding would provide for a “gap fit analysis” that will review the current and/or proposed Police and Fire CAD systems and explore a framework for citywide integration of CAD services. (Existing NYPD contracts with both its CAD developer and systems integrator would be amended.) Since these NYPD projects do not provide for actual development or implementation of a citywide CAD system, it is assumed that funding to fully unify the City’s various emergency dispatch systems would be part of the $1.3-billion ECTP project.

Despite additional funding to research CAD integration, it is unclear if the Administration is proposing to integrate CAD systems designed for fundamentally different dispatch operations or to develop a new dispatch system that would function across all emergency service operations. There has been a 10-plus-year failure to put into service fully functional NYPD and FDNY CAD systems, and the current Administration has not provided sufficient details about how a universal emergency dispatch system that minimizes response time, regardless of the nature of the emergency, will be implemented..

EXECUTIVE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS:

The April 2004 Capital Commitment Plan decreases the FDNY’s Fiscal 2004 commitments by $11.6 million and increases Fiscal 2005 commitments by $17.9 million. Besides the emergency dispatch-related project changes described above, other major changes include:

° FDNY Communications Office Renovation. A $6-million project first proposed in the January 2004 Plan to upgrade or replace the FDNY’s five tower transmission antennas has been eliminated in Fiscal 2004, and a new $25-million project in Fiscal 2004 has been added. This project would fund complete renovations, including repair or replacement of the tower antennas, of the FDNY’s five borough communications offices.

° Fleet Maintenance Facility. Larger FDNY vehicles like pumpers are repaired at a 35^th Street, Long Island City facility that is in need of renovation. The January Plan provided $7 million in Fiscal 2004 to renovate this facility, and the April Plan retains the same total funding but shifts management of the project to the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and the bulk of the funding ($6.5 million) to Fiscal 2005.

° Firehouse Renovation and Reconstruction. The April Plan includes additional funding for ongoing capital improvements to FDNY firehouses and structures, including $445,000 for apparatus doors and $4 million for electrical upgrades in Fiscal 2005. The April Plan also shifts funding for several projects that will now be managed by DDC, including: $4.4 million to replace floors that support firefighting apparatus in Fiscal 2005; $2.7 million to install emergency generators in Fiscal 2004; and $900,000 in Fiscal 2005 to create a database system to assess the renovation needs of every FDNY firehouse. The April Plan also rolls funding for several dedicated projects from Fiscal 2004 to Fiscal 2005, including $1 million for renovation of Engine Company 277’s 90-year-old Bushwick firehouse and $354,000 for renovation of Engine Company’s 99-year-old firehouse on Beekman Street in Manhattan.

° Initial Fire Truck Equipment. The sum of $1.78 million was added in Fiscal 2004 to purchase the ancillary equipment that is outfitted on fire trucks.

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Agency Overview

The Department of Correction (DOC) manages New York City's inmate population. DOC provides custody and control for four categories of detainees: inmates awaiting trial or sentencing, misdemeanants or felons sentenced to one year or less, State prisoners with court appearances in New York City and alleged parole violators awaiting revocation hearings.

As part of its overall rehabilitation efforts, the Department provides professional care and services including drug abuse counseling, health care, religious observance, educational and job training opportunities, and legal services (including access to law libraries) for the incarcerated.

DOC is responsible for the transportation of several thousand inmates to and from court, work locations or community service projects and hospitals on a daily basis. The Department currently operates 12 jail facilities, including ten on Rikers Island and two borough facilities. In addition, the Department maintains court holding areas (pens) in each borough and prison wards in three City hospitals. DOC also has six facilities – two on Rikers Island and four borough jails – that are currently closed.

At the present time, the Department’s jails have a maximum physical capacity of 14,357 beds. As of February 23, 2004, the inmate census was 13,968.

Current Budget Summary

The April 2004 Capital Commitment Plan includes $535.6 million in Fiscals 2005-2008 for the Department of Correction (City funds only). This represents 1.7 percent of the total $32.3 billion January Plan for Fiscals 2005-2008. The agency's April Commitment Plan for Fiscals 2005 - 2008 is 13.1 percent more than the $473.6 million in the September Commitment Plan, an increase of $62 million. Over the past five years, DOC has only committed an average of 46.5 percent of its annual capital plan. Therefore, it is assumed that a large portion of the agency's Fiscal 2004 capital plan will be rolled into Fiscal 2005 thus greatly increasing the size of the Fiscal 2005-2008 capital plan. Since adoption last June, the Capital Commitment Plan for Fiscal 2004 has fallen from $123.2 million to $105.8 million, a decrease of $17.4 million or 14.1 percent.

As part of the Fiscal 2004 budget process, the Council adopted new appropriations and re-appropriations for the Department of Correction that totaled $666.7 million in City funds. These appropriations are to be used to finance DOC’s $122.8-million Fiscal 2004 City-funded capital commitment program. The agency has nearly five-and-one-half times the funding it needs to meet its entire capital commitment program for the current fiscal year.

The Department of Correction's capital commitments for the last five years are shown below:

FIVE YEAR HISTORY – CAPITAL BUDGET ($ in millions)
		FY99	FY00	FY01	FY02	FY03
	CITY	63	59	107	31	110
	NON-CITY	11	0	1	1	0
	TOTAL	74	59	108	32	110

The Adopted Four-Year Capital Plan is shown below:

ADOPTED CAPITAL BUDGET – SEPTEMBER 2003 ($ in millions)
	FY04	FY05	FY06	FY07	FY’s 04-07
CITY	122.8	98.8	121.4	130.2	473.2
NON-CITY	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4
TOTAL	123.2	98.8	121.4	130.2	473.6

The Executive Four-Year Capital Plan is shown below:

EXECUTIVE CAPITAL PLAN – APRIL 2004 ($ in millions)
	FY05	FY06	FY07	FY08	FY’s 05-08
CITY	139.0	110.1	117.0	169.6	535.7
NON-CITY	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4
TOTAL	139.0	110.1	117.0	169.6	535.7

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding.
EXECUTIVE BUDGET ISSUES:

Capacity Replacement Program – Initial Phases. In recent years, the focus of the Department’s capital program has shifted from expanding bed capacity to replacing aging modular units and temporary “sprung” facilities with permanent steel structures. The Capital Replacement Program included three initial phases: a new 448-cell Central Punitive Segregation Unit (CPSU) at Rikers Island’s George R. Vierno’s Center (GRVC); a new 800-bed dormitory at Rikers Island’s Rose M. Singer Center (RSMC); and an additional 200 beds at Rikers Island’s Adolescent Reception and Detention Center (ARDC). The current status of each phase is described below.

° Phase 1 - George R. Vierno Center (GRVC). In Fiscal 2003, the Department commenced Phase 1 of the capacity replacement plan, a 448-cell CPSU at Rikers Island’s GRVC to replace outdated modular capacity. Previous Capital Commitment Plans included over $120 million for the design and construction of this facility. However, the Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services, the Board of Correction, and advocacy groups raised concerns in assessing this project. The first issue was whether a new maximum-security lockdown CPSU was needed, as the current facility, located at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center (OBCC) is fully functional and operating under capacity. The second issue concerned the design of the new CPSU and whether it met the minimal sunlight and fresh air standards set by the Board of Correction. If the project were to have gone forward as planned, the City could have conceivably faced a lawsuit as soon as the facility opened.

Acknowledging these concerns, DOC Commissioner Martin Horn recently announced that the GRVC capacity replacement phase would focus on building general population housing as opposed to maximum-security lockdown housing. The structure, the foundation of which has already been poured, will house 700 to 800 prisoners (as opposed to only 448 CPSU cells). The project addresses the issues raised by the Council and other groups and is scheduled for completion Fiscal 2008. The April Plan rolls $27.1 million from Fiscal 2004 to Fiscal 2005 for this project; a total of $38.3 million - $11.2 million in Fiscal 2004 and $27.1 million in Fiscal 2005 - remains to be committed for this project.

° Phase 2 - Rose M. Singer Center (RMSC). Phase 2 of the Department’s capacity replacement plan is an 800-bed general population dormitory at RMSC. The April Plan rolls a combined $9 million from Fiscals 2004-2005 to Fiscals 2006-2007 and adds an additional $3.2 million to the project. As of the April Plan, a combined $88.1 million remains to be committed for this project: $1.25 million in Fiscal 2004, $17.4 million in Fiscal 2005, $63.7 million in Fiscal 2006, and $5.8 million in Fiscal 2007. The project is expected to be completed in Fiscal 2007.

° Phase 3 - Adolescent Reception and Detention Center (ARDC). Phase 3 of the Department’s capacity replacement plan is the addition of 200 beds at the ARDC. The April Plan increases funding for this project by $4.2 million in Fiscal 2005. Total commitments of $25.34 million ($2.59 million in Fiscal 2004 and $22.75 in Fiscal 2005) remain for this phase, which is scheduled for completion in Fiscal 2006.

° Capacity Replacement and Expansion Program – Outyear Phases. The September 2003 Commitment Plan contained specific projects for the replacement of both temporary housing and outdated permanent housing. The September Plan also included $191.2 million in Fiscal 2008 and the outyears for the construction of an entirely new 1,008-bed facility – a project that was difficult to justify given DOC’s excess of capacity over the last several years. The January 2004 Capital Commitment Plan subsequently changed outyear capacity program. First, the 1,008-bed facility was eliminated, although the funding remains under a new project entitled “Capacity Replacement Program – Reconstruction and Replacement.” Second, while the total commitment plan for this program was slightly reduced, funding for the various specific projects was almost entirely shifted into the renamed and non-specific Capacity Replacement Program. The April Plan now rolls $11.4 million from Fiscal 2007 to the outyears. DOC is on the process of reviewing the outyear Capacity Replacement Program and will provide more details in future capital commitment plans as to when and how the funding will be utilized. A comparison of the September 2003 Plan and the current plan are summarized in the chart below.

DOC: Outyear Capacity Projects (in $000's)
Outyear Capacity Funding as of September 2003 Plan
Description	Beds	FY06	FY07	FY08	FY09 & Out	Total
Core Support Facilities	N/A			24,533	158,306	182,839
EMTC	200	3,893	27,810			31,703
GMDC	448			19,229	80,817	100,046
GMDC East	896			23,888	164,073	187,961
GMDC North	448	7,905	79,304			87,209
GMDC West	800			13,944	76,056	90,000
New Facility	1,008			26,874	164,343	191,217
Total September 2003 Plan		11,798	107,114	108,468	643,595	870,975
Outyear Capacity Funding as of April 2004 Plan
Description		FY06	FY07	FY08	FY09 & Out	Total
Capacity Replacement Program	N/A	11,495	88,926	105,000	663,083	868,504
Apr 2004 to Sep 2003 Variance		(303)	(18,188)	(3,468)	19,488	(2,471)
EMTC: Eric M. Taylor Center, Rikers Island			Dollars in Thousands, exclusive of IFA and contingency
GMDC: George Motchan Detention Center, Rikers Island			Core Support: intake areas, clinics, visit areas, etc.

EXECUTIVE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS:

The April 2004 Capital Commitment Plan reduces DOC’s Department’s Fiscal 2004 commitments are reduced by $37 million and increases Fiscal 2005 commitments increase by $36 million. The major changes include:

° Capacity Replacement Program. As described, net changes to the Department’s GRVC and RMSC capacity replacement projects would decrease Fiscal 2004 commitments by $27.1 million and increase Fiscal 2005 commitments by $18.1 million.

° Brooklyn Detention Center (BKDC). The April Plan increases Fiscal 2004 commitments by $250,000 and Fiscal 2005 commitments by $6.1 million for a façade restoration project at the currently closed Brooklyn Detention Center. The project is now funded at $1.3 million in Fiscal 2004 and $18.4 million in Fiscal 2005.