Fire district begins the budget process

NORTH EAST — The North East Fire District has proposed a $234,642 budget for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, 2008. The fiscal plan was discussed at the fire commission’s meeting last Tuesday.

"This is all brand new this year," Fire Commission Chairman George Lind said, adding that the proposed budget will only be final once the board of fire commissioners votes on and adopts it.

Lind reviewed with the commissioners the ins and outs of the budget, which are up $36,377 next year over this year’s budget of $198,265.

There was slight movement in a number of budget lines, like the secretary’s line, which went down from $2,880 to $2,500, and the treasurer’s line, which went up from $1,800 to $2,000. The capital outlay line for new equipment rose $5,000 to $20,000. Office supplies dropped by $500 as they were moved to another line.

The budget’s utilities lines stayed the same for the most part, including the cell tower, electric service, garbage service, gasoline and diesel fuel, heating oil, telephone service and water/hydrant service.

The insurance line was raised a bit, from $19,085 to $21,400.

"The insurance line item reflects the insurance of the building. The insurance of the apparatus was also raised 7 percent," Lind said. "We increased the building and value of two new ambulances."

Travel expenses were raised by $500, while association dues jumped $250.

The fire district saw a big leap in the budget under the physical/drug tests line, which went from $1,000 to $7,500.

"In order to get this department on line with the fact that we need to know the physical status of everybody this year, both the interior firefighters and the exterior firefighters," Lind said. "We need to know what they can do and what they can’t do, and by a company, not by their local physician."

The repairs line for ambulance and rescue vehicles was raised by $2,000 to $30,000.

The line for workmen’s compensation and liability insurance jumped from $22,500 to $36,000. The transfer to the reserve fund was also increased, from $35,000 to $40,000. The 2006 ambulance bond appropriation line saw a small increase, from $24,640 to $25,432.

A new line was added to the budget for fire prevention, so the department can visit schools around the area to teach children about fire prevention. The line accounts for $600 of the budget.

The preliminary budget is approximately 18 percent higher than this year’s budget, according to the chairman of the commission.

"We’ve increased the budget in the last two, three years by $90,000," Lind said. "It was the thinking of the five fire commissioners that sooner or later the population increases shall try to play catch up since we spun off from the village of Millerton.

"We didn’t want to kill the taxpayer, but we did want to provide the very best fire protection we can," he added.

The fire district’s budget has to be finalized and in the hands of the town supervisor by Nov. 5. The town cannot make changes to the budget, which is based on the 2006 property assessment, which resulted in a 92.5-percent equalization rate.