Before I post the article. I just want to say that I am TRULY thankful for our volunteers. I don't know where we would be with out them! I support them having up to date equipment to protect them. I support them buying next trucks every certain amount of years and of course I support them training! I have no problem with any of that and I don't mind my taxes rising for those things. But some of the things listed in this article, if they are true, are too over the top. I am thankful my district is only looking for a small increase while other districts like Selden are looking for a HUGE increase.

Most LI fire districts raising taxes

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BY MICHAEL ROTHFELD

December 11, 2005


Fire districts across Long Island are raising taxes an average of 11 percent next year -- nearly three thimes the rate of inflation -- with some imposing hikes approaching 70 percent to fund construction projects, employee hiring and volunteer benefits, records show.

The increases are especially sharp in Suffolk County, where 20 different fire districts approved 2006 tax levies that grew at least 20 percent - including 68 percent on Shelter Island, 49 percent in Selden, 42 percent in Amagansett and 32 percent in Mattituck, according to a Newsday analysis.

District commissioners, many of whom are up for re-election on Tuesday, defend the spending as necessary to pay for updated equipment and modern facilities that will help keep residents safe. Some say they prefer raising money once through taxes than borrowing it and having to pay interest for years.

"We try to keep it in check because we are taxpayers, too," said Andrew Bohnet, a fire commissioner in Elmont, where the tax levy is rising 22 percent from $4.3 million to $5.3 million.

The increases come at a time of intense taxpayer fatigue on Long Island. Voters have rejected dozens of school district budgets in recent years. And a poll two weeks ago found that unprecedented numbers of residents were vowing to move away because of the cost of living.

"It's driving young people off," said Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association, whose research showed that 65,000 people between the ages of 25 and 44 left Nassau and Suffolk between 2000 and 2004. "That's the heart of your workforce."

Aging population

Long Island's population is aging, and the tax burden also weighs heavily on retirees with fixed incomes who would like to stay, Kamer said. When it continues to rise at a fast pace, "it just adds fuel to the fire."

"There seems to be this general frustration level that we can't keep paying more for the high quality of services," said Carrie Meek Gallagher, executive director of the Long Island Index, which conducted the recent poll. Fire department costs have grown almost three times as fast as other local governments on Long Island, a recent Newsday series found. Their spending levels are still lower than for schools, police, county and town services, but fire and emergency medical costs have more than doubled since 1980, from $143.1 million to $295.5 million in 2000, even after adjusting for inflation.

The series showed that some volunteer departments have engaged in a building boom of massive new firehouses, acquired far more equipment and vehicles than is common elsewhere, and funded lucrative perks, such as Caribbean training trips and cashmere suits, for high-ranking members. Voter turnout is typically sparse, however, for commission elections and referendums on borrowing money.

"I think the increases that the fire stations have passed on to our village in general over the last number of years have been extremely excessive, very high," said John Fitteron, a trustee in Laurel Hollow, whose village contracts with two fire companies for service including Syosset, where the tax levy is increasing 63 percent, from about $5 million to $8 million.

'Everything is taxes'

Frank Nocerino, secretary and treasurer of the Association of Fire Districts of New York State, said increases in the cost of gasoline, electricity and heating fuel, which have exceeded the rate of inflation, are driving tax hikes.

But he also said that some districts - such as North Massapequa, where he is a commissioner - are holding taxes steady.

"In general everything is taxes, taxes - school boards, fire districts, we're taxed out," Nocerino said. "As a fire district now, you've got to maybe take another hard look and see what the needs are and try to do more with less."

The analysis by Newsday of next year's fire taxes examined only the levies of the 132 fire districts with elected commissioners who vote on budgets. The districts account for about two-thirds of Long Island's total spending on fire and emergency medical services. It did not include village departments, which are funded out of municipal budgets, or incorporated fire companies that are also funded by taxes but negotiate their spending with town and village leaders.After approving their budgets, fire commissioners submit them to local town officials, who are required by state law to include the spending in their own budgets without making changes. The last step, basically a formality, is for county legislators to ratify the tax levies. Suffolk lawmakers approved the 2006 levies last week; Nassau's must vote on them this month.

Fire districts raising cash

Many fire districts are raising cash through taxes that they will not immediately need.

In Selden, where the tax levy was $4 million this year, a 49 percent hike was due in part to commissioners budgeting an extra $1.5 million to repay debt from a planned $6 million firehouse expansion. However, the district has not borrowed the money for the expansion yet and doesn't intend to do so until March.

"The board has determined to pay it back as quickly as possible," said Selden's attorney, Joseph Attonito.

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Most LI fire districts raising taxes

Email this story

Printer friendly format



More Coverage


Fire commissioner election guide


Suffolk


Nassau


More information




Election guide: Who is on the ballot, and where to vote

Nassau fire taxes: Districts ranked by percentage increase

Suffolk fire taxes Districts ranked by percentage increase
Read Newsday's special report: FireAlarm: Compared districts, take an interactive firehouse tour and watch video stories about local firefighters.



BY MICHAEL ROTHFELD

December 11, 2005

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Selden's $200,000 budget for "Travel and Training" remained stable next year. But employee salaries are increasing from $1.2 million to $1.7 million because the district is hiring emergency medical technicians 24 hours, seven days a week to improve response time. The rest is for custodians and dispatchers.

"We are really very heavy with ambulance calls here," said commission chairman Robert Santora. In a number of districts, however, taxes are decreasing.

In 2006, South Hempstead's taxes will decline by a total of about $19,000, a 3 percent reduction. Paul Cartier, the commission chairman, said expenses for the annual volunteer dinner will decline from the $30,000 spent in 2005 to $20,000 next year. He said the department doesn't foresee any major purchases.

"We keep it tight here," Cartier said. "I wait until the paper's on sale for the copying machine. I use my own personal cell phone."

By imposing taxes increases and placing the money in reserve for future projects, commissioners say they can avoid borrowing and paying more in interest down the line. But the districts have been criticized for stockpiling surpluses for building projects, which they can then undertake without the more difficult process of winning voter approval to borrow.

New spending planned

In Syosset, the 2006 tax levy hike from nearly $5 million to more than $8 million, includes $2 million for a "Transfer to Reserves," and another $200,000 for "Contingency."

The department is preparing to build a new $5 million fire station with four bays in Woodbury to house an engine, ambulance, a racing truck and an antique truck. Officials also want to spend $1 million on a new facility for support vehicles and a back-up power generator near their headquarters. They are saving up for four new fire engines within the next two years.

"It's going to be a one-year lift and then we're going to be able to put it right back where it was," at about $5 million, Dennis Hendrickson, chairman of the Syosset fire commissioners, said in an interview. "I'm not going to float a bond and saddle our future with that."

Syosset's average residential fire bill was $295 this year, records show, and the hike would push that to about $480 next year. District officials stress that would mean only about 51 more cents a day.

On Shelter Island, the current average tax bill of $164 is increasing by 68 percent because the fire department is instituting a small pension program for volunteers like many other departments have. Commissioner Huson Sherman said the district spending had remained at about $429,000 for years until rising to $722,000 next year.

Sherman, a 24-year veteran who will receive $1,200 from the new pension next year, said the benefit was designed to entice younger volunteers.

"There's more of us over 60 than there are under 30," Sherman said. "I'm 68 and I'm still out there humping hoses around. And there's guys older than me doing it."

Taxing changes

More than three-quarters of the LI fire districts with elected commissioners raised their tax levies for next year. Only 13 cut them.

The largest tax increases

Shelter Island 68.0%

Syosset 63.1%

Selden 49.0%

The largest tax declines

Barnum Island -6.5%

Ocean Bay Park -5.1%

Cutchogue -4.7%

Reason behind the hikes

Construction costs, hiring and pensions are contributing to the increase in fire taxes in 2006.