The Binghamton City Council unanimously voted on Sept. 10 to allocate $141,000 to the Binghamton Fire Department for the purchase of essential fire safety equipment. The vote came two weeks after the council failed to approve Mayor Jared Kraham’s proposal to transfer $357,685 in federal funds to the department.

Kraham’s plan would have reallocated Community Development Block Grant money for two emergency response vehicles and new firefighting gear. On Aug. 27, the council deadlocked 3-3 on the plan, as Councilwoman Kinya Middleton, who represents the second district, was not present at the meeting.

At a Sept. 8 work session, Councilwoman Rebecca Rathmell, who represents the sixth district, offered a new proposal after speaking with community members and the president of the Binghamton Professional Firefighters Association Local 729. Her plan would draw $141,000 from the city’s general fund, which Rathmell believed was the “most appropriate source” of funding.

“The city’s general fund, like every municipal general fund, is designed to cover essential services when unexpected expenditures or budget shortfalls come up,” Rathmell said at the work session. “And one of the most common uses of any general fund is public safety.”

Under this proposal, the fire department would receive almost $217,000 less than Kraham’s initial ask, with the funds to be used only for purchasing the requested gear. Kraham must now approve the funding.

Rathmell told the Press & Sun Bulletin that she encouraged Binghamton City Fire Chief Alan Gardiner to request funding for the emergency vehicles in the 2026 budget and that the council would approve the proposal.

“The turnout gear is a critical need in order to maintain the fire department’s compliance with National Fire Protection Association regulations, but CDBG was not the appropriate source,” Rathmell said at the work session.

Deputy Mayor Megan Heiman told Pipe Dream that the city’s Community Development Advisory Committee met last week and recommended that the originally proposed funding of $357,685 be transferred to the fire department.

In a statement to WBNG, Kraham said the city council’s plan “falls short of meeting the department’s equipment needs” and would risk the public safety of City of Binghamton residents.

“I’m once again asking that Council approve the full funding for the Fire Department, without any further delay,” Kraham said. “Our first responders — and the residents they serve — deserve that.”

Rathmell and other city councilmembers criticized Kraham for proposing to reallocate Community Development Block Grant funds instead of spending them on affordable housing development. In an Aug. 28 press conference, Kraham said the money in question “was not allocated for housing” but was unspent funds for administrative costs and salary lines that cannot be recouped.

Rathmell said the city has over $700,000 in unspent Community Development Block Grant funds. While she acknowledged the city faced “threats of recision” from the federal government, she thought it was “disingenuous” for Kraham to argue that the funds must be spent now.

“[There is a] difference between this funding sitting there for six years and this council having a month-and-a-half to consider, in light of timeliness concerns but also very critical affordable housing needs locally, how to appropriately spend this money,” Rathmell said. “That’s if we had an administration that was committed to collaboration rather than one that just throws resolutions out and hopes we don’t have the time to figure out alternatives.”

At the meeting, Rathmell discussed two bills that would appropriate Community Development Block Grant funding toward two initiatives addressing local housing issues. Her first plan would modernize affordable housing units built before 1985 to address the health and safety concerns of tenants. According to the January 2024 Broome County Housing Needs Assessment, the average age of local affordable housing development buildings is 40 years old.

Rathmell said she felt this issue went unaddressed by the Binghamton Housing Authority. Last month, BHA tenants created a petition and threatened a rent strike in response to unsafe living conditions.

The other bill would establish a “proactive code rehabilitation assistance program” to assist rental property owners in addressing health and safety issues that are identified during the Proactive Rental Housing Inspection program, which is being considered by the council.

The proposals were sent for further review at a later planning committee meeting.

“I will only add that the question remains unsettled, and neither of the presented spending proposals is likely to move forward, which would seem to present the opportunity and need for a compromise solution,” Councilman Robert Cavanaugh II, who represents the third district, wrote in an email.