Fire Department on LI (long)

Big-ticket budget
Farmingville fire district's $2.9M spending plan has thousands earmarked for recreation rooms' overhaul - and the purchase of $55G racing car

The Farmingville fire district has passed a $2.9-million budget that sets aside hundreds of thousands of dollars for renovating its stations' recreation rooms - and a new race car.

Approved last month by three of the five district fire commissioners, the budget has been criticized as excessive and misprioritized by the lone commissioner who voted against it.

"As a taxpayer, I'm outraged and as a fire commissioner, I'm baffled," said Stephen Curtin, adding that residents will see their fire district taxes increase by 26 percent, or approximately $75. "Our priority should be on saving lives and property."

Other Farmingville fire commissioners said spending had remained unchanged for years despite rising costs. They said the allocations are judicious and will enhance public safety.

"We know the fire service better than anyone," said Commissioner Norman Neill. "We basically know what is and what is not needed."

Among the expenditures in Farmingville's 2007 budget:

$55,000 to replace the racing car, which the district uses in drill competitions.

$260,000 to renovate the recreation rooms in the district's two fire stations, and

a $12,000 pay raise - to $42,000 - for a recently hired maintenance mechanic who is the son of one commissioner, the stepson of Neill and the godson of a third.

Curtin said the pending expenditures are particularly galling because his pleas for hiring round-the-clock advanced emergency medical care providers have been rebuffed.

The district, which serves about 8,000 homes in a 6- square-mile area, has such providers, but not for every hour of every day. An EMT who provides basic emergency medical care works the other shifts.

"It's the standard of care nowadays and we should have it," said Curtin, a volunteer firefighter for 26 years.

Other Farmingville commissioners said such care would be rarely used and expensive. They also defended their upcoming spending.

For example, the new racing car will foster camaraderie among volunteer firefighters and enhance their firefighting skills, said Commissioner Edward Stewart Jr., father of the recently hired mechanic. Volunteers across Long Island have long competed in drill tournaments where teams leap off speeding, specially modified racing vehicles to climb ladders or hook up hoses.

"Anyone can make a mountain out of a molehill," said Stewart, noting one of the team's two cars - both are needed to compete - is damaged and more than 20 years old.

Neill said renovating the rec rooms would decrease emergency response times by encouraging volunteers to spend more time at stations. Neill said the rooms were last renovated more than 20 years ago.

"[Curtin's] a very thrifty individual himself and he just can't see spending money, period," said Neill, who, like Stewart, characterized his colleague as a perennial gadfly, unpopular among the volunteers.

Commissioner John Caputo also voted to approve the budget. Jack Messina, godfather to the mechanic, was vacationing and did not vote.

The commissioners' next public meeting is 8 p.m. Monday at 780 Horseblock Rd.

Because Farmingville is a fire district, its commissioners have final say over its budget. Outside financial scrutiny is relegated to audits by the state comptroller, though state legislators have passed bills requiring greater accountability from the districts following a Newsday investigation last
fall. Those laws largely take effect next year.


Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Manor Park), who sponsored a bill this past legislative session requiring fire districts to adopt codes of ethics, said he wanted sufficient equipment for volunteer firefighters. But Farmingville's planned spending gave him pause.

"I have heard of these kinds of expenditures in the past, and that's what prompted us to move forward with the aggressive legislation this year," he said.

Jennifer Freeman, a spokeswoman for state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, said the office could not comment on a budget the comptroller's office had not reviewed. But she said audits of four Long Island fire districts now under way include examinations of expenses related to district drill teams.

Commissioner Stewart, who recused himself from voting on his son's hiring last winter but not his pay raise, said the $42,000 salary aligns his son's compensation with what similar districts pay mechanics.

Neill said the deal was a bargain given his stepson's ability to act as an electrician, computer technician and carpenter.

"It's not like nepotism where you took someone that's an idiot and gave him a job," Neill said. "I hired him because he's a good employee."

Curtin said he spoke out of a sense of duty to the community. "Maybe I'm the oddball, but I think we should be paying for service," he said.

Among the expenditures in the fire district's 2007 budget under the categories equipment reserve fund, building reserve fund and payroll fund:

$55,000

to replace a district

racing car

$260,000

to renovate the recreation rooms in the district's two fire stations

$12,000 pay raise

(to $42,000) for a maintenance mechanic who is the son of one commissioner, the stepson of another and the godson of a third

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

thoughts anyone?

i know this is kinda much for a thursday night

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Aaaahhhh...you are just searching for drama now aren't you, Red?
As for my thoughts... while I really do appreciate the job that volunteer fire departments do, it really cannot be underestimated, I seriously feel that the "powers that be" have way too much freedom with the money and use it for really stupid stuff. We deal with a lot of LI Fire Depts. at my job and I know that if they don't use up all their state budget money for a year, they won't get that much the next year. This is why they buy new trucks, give themselves raises, etc. So, they spend it all and then some (usually puttng in requests for more $$$ or ask for $$$ from the community) on whatever they possibly can. I don't think it's right, but I don't think the state should withhold if they don't use up the budget. They should be able to bank whatever is leftover without any penalties.
That being said, some of these FD's take total advantage and use a lot of this money for stupid things, ie. the article you posted, but Farmingville just got caught is all. A couple of years ago, Hicksville built an entirely new building on W.John Street made out of Belgian Brick, imagine how much that cost?! Was it necessary? Absolutely not - they tried to do it at another house and the community turned out to vote it down. Unless a watchdog committee is formed for each FD, the frivolous spending will continue and it will just be a matter of who's caught and when.
That's just my opinion, I could be wrong

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

nope...not really looking for drama at all

DH and i were talking about this in depth and was curious what people here thought about this

i know full well this isn't just a Farmingville issue...


But rather scenario that i was looking for thoughts on..


IMO ...i would be livid that fire fighters were using MY TAX DOLLARS...to pay for a race car

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

I am personally all for the fire dept having activities in which they enjoy themselves. Unless you have personally dedicated your time you really do not know what it takes.

my family has about 75 yrs of volunteer service. I myself gave 3 years. i enjoy the races and participated in them.

to be a volunteer i had to go to EMT school for 6 mths. twice a week on top of college and a ft job.

i also have to wake up at all hours of the night for all types of emergencies and nonemergencies. do u know how many times we respond to nonemergencies??

besides the endless alarms...there is cleaning and maintenance of the equipment.

now after the hard work they ALL deserve a little fun. if u disagree and want to complain over 200 or so dollars a year thendedicate your time.

you would pay a lot more for a paid FD

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

What bothers me more then this is when teachers and principals of public schools throw away thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of NEW text books.
Why?? b/c they had to spend the full amount of the schools budget b/c if they didn't they wouldnt get as much money the following year

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Fire Departments have a LOT of fundraisers to do the "activities " in which you speak of

i know that THIS fire department A LOT OF IT...and they generate a LOT of money to do the "fun activities" that they do...

I can understand that they want a nice fire house and what not..

they go on yearly cruises, they have yearly functions ....lets just say fire departments gdo generate a LOT of money for themselves and if they CHOOSE to spend it on cruises and race cars...BY ALL MEANS..

BUT IMO spending 55K on RACE CAR....that is gotten from TAX PAYERS MONEY.......

nah not feeling that at all

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

I appreciate and am willing to pay for the volunteer FD, but they dont need a $55G racecar.

And newsday did a whole series on this - and I believe they said it would be more cost effective to have county FD paid like the PD.

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

MY husband is an 11 year volunteer firefighter and ex-captain, so I am all for them getting some perks for all their hard work - but a race car?

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

was this in Newsday last week? I could have sworn I read about this before

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

was this in Newsday last week? I could have sworn I read about this before

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Posted by Redhead

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

was this in Newsday last week? I could have sworn I read about this before

it was in tuesdays

they have been doing a lot of articles here and there about FD's..

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

was this in Newsday last week? I could have sworn I read about this before

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

Posted by Redhead

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

was this in Newsday last week? I could have sworn I read about this before

it was in tuesdays

they have been doing a lot of articles here and there about FD's..

race car?

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

No Comment.

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

people will vote down a FD budget but pass a school budget because we need our sports...or the new and improved library..or the INDOOR TRACK that my old HS put in.

WHY do you need an indoor track?

Why do you need a state of the art library when there is a PUBLIC library, which our taxes pay for also.

if you are so worried about your tax money..we should start charging people to bring them to the hospital.

How about the old man that calls an ambulance but is waiting with his bags packed to go in for surgery because his kids wouldn't bring him?

Or the woman that drank too much and is throwing up all over her self?

Or the person who has had pains all day long but decides to call the ambulance at 3am.

Either way you look at it...no matter the issue someone will always have something to say. Libraries, HIgh Schools, Fire Departments...will always bring controversy over tax money.

One of newsday's writers has a huge thing against the FD and has written numerous articles to make them look like the bad guys...never ever the good guys.

However, when your house goes on fire or your father suffers a stroke they won't be the bad guy.

Message edited 10/12/2006 9:05:05 PM.

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

I dont think you can compare a library in a HS to volunteer firement wanting a racecar.

and no one is saying that we shouldt be supporting our firemen either - but please tell me what they need a racecar for?

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

do they need a racecar...no

do they deserve a sport they can enjoy after their hardwork? yes

do they deserve time to bond with other fire dept members from across the state? yes

do they deserve to compete and win titles? yes

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

ACTUALLY lots of SD budgets were VOTED DOWN last year due to HIGH increases...

I do not see the comparison of a state of the art LIBRARY to a 55K RACE CAR

COME ON NOW..

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Message edited 10/12/2006 9:09:20 PM.

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

As I said in my earlier post - I truly do appreciate what they do. But, they get tax breaks on their property taxes and they do get a lot of perks. The point is, it's not necessary to take advantage. Some things are ridiculous = $55K on a car is one of them, Belgian Block for a new building is another.

This is not taking away from the service they perform - but it shouldn't give them the right to take advantage.

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Message edited 10/12/2006 9:10:23 PM.

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

As I also said - there should be some kind of watchdog group to prevent frivoulous spending.

Re: Fire Department on LI (long)

Posted by Redhead

ACTUALLY lots of SD budgets were VOTED DOWN last year due to HIGH increases...

I do not see the comparison of a state of the art LIBRARY to a 55K RACE CAR

COME ON NOW..