City Manager Spotlight

Grants Provide Health, Safety, & Staff

One of the primary roles of local government is to provide for the health and safety of its citizens. The most visible way we do this is through our police and fire services. Washington City has been served for many years by these two excellent Public Safety departments. The cost associated with maintaining police and fire departments is extremely expensive and funded through the general taxes of the community.  For this reason the city often looks to alternative funding programs to help with these departments. One of those sources is the Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response Grant (SAFER). This program provides funds for the hiring of fire department personnel. Although the funds are granted to the city they do require a commitment on our part. They are also extremely competitive to receive. Washington has applied for many years to receive such a grant and has only been successful a few times. We are happy to announce that last fall Washington City was awarded a SAFER grant of $721,500. These funds have allowed us to hire an additional six full-time firefighters. We are grateful to have received this money during this expansive time of growth and will continue to look for cost effective ways to improve upon these services

-Roger Carter

City Manager

WashingtonCity.org/manager