Brockport restructures fire/ambulance budget

Following outcry from town supervisors at the November 4 board meeting, Village of Brockport officials have reexamined the fire and ambulance budgets.

At the November 4 meeting, Brockport officials presented a plan that would have saved village taxpayers approximately $208,000, but it would have shifted the burden of the budget to taxpayers in the towns of Clarkson and Sweden. Supervisors Paul Kimball and Nat O. Lester spoke out on the proposal at the meeting, saying they should have been involved in the budgeting process.

Trustee James Whipple, at the village's November 18 meeting, presented a new plan that came about as part of a meeting held with town and village officials. "The fire budget is still up marginally, however the ambulance part of the budget is not going to be funded from tax money," Whipple explained. "The ambulance budget will be funded with third party billing money."

The overall budget for fire and ambulance services, Whipple explained, will be down a little bit. "This will offer a bit of relief for taxpayers in all three municipalities," he said.

Whipple said at the time third party billing was put in place it was agreed that the goal of the billing would be to help reduce the tax load. "We basically were looking to gain some experience to see what the revenue stream was," he said. "We didn't feel we were ready to make the commitment to have third party billing completely take over."

The projected revenue streams, Whipple said, at this time look like they will be able to support the ambulance budget. "We agreed to give it a chance," he said.

Supervisor Paul Kimball said he was very pleased with the fire and ambulance budgets that were adopted. "It was in line with what Supervisor Lester (Town of Sweden) and I proposed," he said. "We're also very much pleased that the third party billing is going to be able to fully fund the ambulance."

With the third party billing funding the expenses for the ambulance department, Kimball said, there won't be any need for an ambulance tax for any of the communities. "The original intent for the third party billing was to pay for the ambulance department."

Both towns and the village are ultimately working toward the formation of a fire district. "It would be run by fire commissioners," Whipple said, adding that they hope it will be within the next year.

In essence, a fire district would be a separate business charged with running the fire and ambulance departments, Whipple said. They would be a revenue generating/tax collecting entity.

"We feel this is a good fit for everyone," Whipple said. "It was a compromise for the three municipalities to come to this solution and it made it financially more pleasing for everyone."

Trustee Morton Wexler said, "The village takes the brunt. ... The village is always the benevolent benefactor in these issues," he said.

Wexler said the village needs to put a moratorium on spending. "If dispatch (operations) were gone we would save $235,000 ... this new proposal still leaves us some way to go to get our tax increase for next year out of the double digits."

Whipple said the two towns are key stakeholders in the fire and ambulance budget process and have a right to be involved with decisions made by village officials.