UPDATE: View fire district elections results here.
TUCKAHOE – In April 2021, residents of Upper Township’s Fire District No. 2 approved the purchase of a new fire truck for an amount not to exceed $600,000.
Standard practice would have been for the fire district to explain its method for financing the purchase and seek approval from the Local Finance Board of the state’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA). That step was not taken and controversy over the purchase was ignited by an anonymous letter to DCA objecting to the way the new equipment was being acquired.
Recently, the fire district submitted its 2022 budget for DCA approval. That budget, which has since been approved, shows the purchase of the fire truck at $910,000.
The purchase is being funded with a combination of fire district prior reserves, both restricted and unrestricted, along with a $150,000 contribution for the Tuckahoe Volunteer Fire Company. The budget states that there will be no increase in the fire district tax rate for 2022.
How did the truck approved at a fire district election in April 2021 for $600,000 end up in the 2022 budget of the fire district at $910,000? Price inflation aside, the process of public approval for what amounts to a 50% increase in the truck’s purchase price is laid out in the state statutes.
Even though the voters were asked to approve the purchase at a lower price in 2021, the law allows the fire commissioners to hold a public hearing and essentially have a public vote that authorizes the higher price for the asset. There was such an open public meeting of the fire commissioners in November 2021 at which public approval was achieved by a vote of 20-0 of those present.
The truck will be owned by the fire district and be used by the volunteer fire company as part of the fire district’s arrangement for fire protection services. The fire district budgets an amount each year for contract services with the fire company. For 2022, that amount is $300,000, representing an increase of $30,000 over the amount in 2021.
The payment for the new truck involves the $150,000 contribution from the volunteer fire company, the use of 10% of the fire district’s unrestricted surplus, which amounts to $45,000 toward the truck’s purchase, and $760,000 from the fire district’s restricted surplus, which amounts to using 93% of the restricted surplus balance.
The final step in the process that will result in the purchase of the new fire truck is approval by the voters of the 2022 fire district budget Feb. 19.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
