Something doesn't add up, or subtract correctly with FD budget

I just got off the phone with Merrick asking him to explain how the FD budget can be increasing by 2.2% when he has told us he is making the cuts outlined in my email to him (copied below). He tells me that he has made further cuts to the communications budget, to $11,000, which should make the total cut $55,306.  This would make a 2-17 budget of $103,248 ($158,554 - $55,306).

Merrick said that the numbers that he reports were given to him by Mr. Radke. He also told me that he has never bothered with the knitpicky details of the budget. Clearly if he is making a $55,306 cut from a $158,554 budget, there must be some other significant numbers added to the budget to make it a 2.2% increase. I told Merrick that we need to know what the numbers are. He said he'd call the office in the morning, and let me know.  I asked that he have them send me the new proposed budget.

Unless one of us has made a significant arithmetic error, something is wrong and it doesn't add up. As soon as I know, I'll let you know.  I'll post to the Lasqueti web site, as well as tot he email list. 

I sent this email to Merrick with copies to Laurence and Richard, who were all at the meeting this afternoon with Merrick:

Hi Merrick,

This afternoon you told us that the transfer to reserves ($26,306) would be cut, and the budget for communications would be reduced from $40,000 to $15,000. That's a total of $51,306.  The total budget for 2017 as proposed was to be $158,554. Cutting $51,306 from this leaves a budget of $107,248.

The budget for communications that you want ($15,000) is twice as large as what fire chief Carlson said is needed ($7,500)for purchase of radios and pagers this year. The cost of the pagers does not, he told you, come from this part of the budget.

You report in your email list submission that the FD budget for this year will increase by 2.2% over last year. Yet the budget for 2016 was $120,030. This year's budget, $107,248, is $12,782 less. That's a cut in budget of just over 10% from the 2016 level, NOT a 2.2% increase.

What is going on here?  How can you be doing what you said you would do, and also have a 2.2% increase in our fire department budget?

Please explain to us what you are doing, and what is going on.  I probably don't have to tell you that I am immediately suspicious of your intentions.