Billerica Finance Committee Approves Police, EMS, and Fire Budgets for FY25

BILLERICA — March 14, 2024 — Billerica Finance Committee approves police, EMS, fire, and IT budgets totaling more than $8.8 million in annual operating spending. The committee voted unanimously on all items at its March 14 budget review session, approving the police department at $5,982,861, EMS at $2,072,050, and systems administration at $700,250, along with smaller accounts for animal control ($44,444) and emergency management ($68,567). EMS Director Joe Gellin, a 31-year town paramedic, told the committee that average billings of $2,200 per call return only about $740 in collections and that private ambulance companies retreating from emergency response are pushing more volume onto municipal services. The police chief said a body camera policy is written and union negotiations are "very close," and that 16 officers recently sat for the sergeant promotional exam to fill 11 positions blocked by a civil service injunction since 2022. The fire chief said he expects to recover approximately $50,000 in equipment and overtime costs from the insurer of a junkyard fire that required the first district-wide state hazmat team call-out in more than a decade.