News

Confusion persists over fire department but estimates show modest impact

By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
WEATHERSFIELD, Vt. —The tax impact of the proposed new municipal fire department on the FY20 general fund would be approximately one additional cent relative to this year, as opposed to saving a cent on the tax rate under the current system, town figures published Monday show.

In other words, it will cost something more to create the municipal fire department, but will not cause the huge spike in property taxes some fear.

The financial schedule, brought by Town Manager Ed Morris to the latest special select board / fire company merger meeting, show figures that are reasonably reliable and less tentative than before, said chair Kelly Murphy.

The current general fund municipal tax rate for this year (FY19) is 0.3268 cents per $100 of assessed value. The general fund for FY20 with the fire commission budget is $1.34 million with a contribution to the tax rate of 0.3117 cents per $100. The general fund for FY20 with a municipal fire department would be $1.4 million, with a contribution to the tax rate of 0.3308 cents per $100.

Although the schedule also includes summary budgets for the two different fire schemes, exact line items do not compare one to another before some expenses are in different categories.

The bottom lines, however, are that the tax need under a fire commission budget would be $179,887, and with a municipal fire department, the tax need would be $244,270.

But the financial impact of the proposed department is still only one of several factors people are talking about. Some questioners from the floor still asked why the single department is needed, why the Ascutney Volunteer Fire Department does not wish to join with the West Weathersfield Volunteer Fire Department, and what exactly would happen if Ascutney does not go along, or if the town meeting does not approve the new fire department.

The main activity of the meeting was reviewing previously agreed tasks that a new fire chief would likely be assigned, with Murphy asking for a show of hands of which ones could be done by a part-time chief. This, she explained, was to address proposals for saving money by making the chief part-time, although Morris is still recommending a full-time appointment.

“You can’t do all of this as a part-time status,” Murphy said as the room preferred item after item as workable by a part-time chief. “There are a lot of trade-offs in this process.”

Someone asked what the present chiefs were doing now.  Both Josh Dauphin of WWFD and Darrin Spaulding of AVFD said they were not presently able to do all the tasks listed.

This led to a more open discussion about the problems the current fire departments were having, which Murphy encouraged. 

“The reality has to be put on the table,” she said, adding she has heard much “chatter” in the community wondering if the select board is trying to “take over” the fire departments.

On the contrary, she said, the select board has little actual information about why the two associations do some things differently and do not get along. The select board does not actually control the fire associations now, and for the proposal going forward cannot act on whispers and rumors. “Every step of the way, we try to be very transparent and very inclusive,” said Murphy.

With the clock ticking toward a final budget in mid-January, Murphy and other select board members urged AVFA to come forward at the next meeting on Jan. 7 to state its specific issues and what it would like to see happen. Although AVFA has in the past suggested it might want some kind of mutual aid support contract, said Murphy, it has not yet actually put a proposal on the table and needs to do so if it wants that consideration.

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