Moving into the new Fire Station 2 and headquarters building on West Second Street, Seymour Fire Department officials underestimated the cost of the utility bill.

They had to ask the city for an additional appropriation of $20,000 to pay the bill for the remainder of the year.

They also requested an additional appropriation of $10,000 to buy new software for the department’s inspectors to use.

During a public hearing at a recent Seymour Common Council meeting, Assistant Chief Eric Roll spoke in favor of the requests.

Councilman Jerry Hackney, chair of the finance committee, said new equipment that went into the new station was using a lot more electricity than anticipated, and Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson said that station is three times larger than the previous one on Fifth Street. SFD headquarters also moved into the Second Street building.

“They estimated what they thought it was going to be, and they missed it,” Nicholson said.

Roll told the council that has been correct for the 2024 budget.

With the software, Roll said the cost includes getting the community in the program and the company providing intensive training for the department’s inspectors.

“It’s a program that’s going to really help our inspection program out,” he said. “We’re going to be able to do twice as many inspections a day as what we can get done now.”

No one else spoke in favor of or against the requests during the public hearing. Later in the meeting, the council unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance for the additional appropriations 7-0.

At the next council meeting, the second reading passed by the same vote.