Feeling squeezed
Facing tight budgets, fire commission talks about borrowing for new trucks
BY BRIAN WILSON
NEWS EDITOR
The Medford Area Fire Commission may rely more on municipal borrowing and less on savings to replace firefighting vehicles in the future.
Commission members at their June 26 meeting were looking ahead to the 2025 budget. The proposed budget as presented by fire chief Mike Filas included a 9.3% increase in the portion of the operational budget covered by member municipalities and a 10.5% increase in the amount municipalities pay into the truck replacement fund.
Historically, the fire department plans to replace vehicles after 30 years of service. This can vary for specific vehicles depending on maintenance issues or its ability to pass necessary operational and safety inspections. This comes out to the department replacing See COMMISSION on page 11
Medford Area Fire Department replaces trucks on a 30 year cycle. However, change may be coming with increasing costs for emergency vehicles.
FILE PHOTO the major firefighting vehicles about every 5 years. The department will be getting a new vehicle late this year and is looking ahead to the next vehicle to be replaced in 2030.
Member municipalities make annual contributions to the truck replacement fund with money from that fund paying for the new vehicle when it is purchased. This was started in the 1980s when interest rates were significantly higher both for borrowing and savings rates than now and municipalities had fewer state-imposed restriction on raising levy amounts.
There is concern that with the price of fire trucks and other emergency vehicles increasing at above the inflation rate, that there will not be enough money in the fund to purchase a new truck when the next one comes due in 2030.
This year, the department is replacing a tender truck, this is a truck that hauls water to fire scenes, at a cost of about $495,000. The department has the funds on hand to pay for that truck.
The department’s plan is in 2030 to replace engine 301 in the fleet, which is a primary attack pumper that is among the first vehicles to go out to a fire scene. The projected cost for that vehicle replacement is between $750,000 and $850,000. About $95,000 a year is put into the vehicle replacement account.
“We are still going to be short,” said commission member Stanley Schmidt of the town of Medford.
Schmidt noted that if they are short when it comes time to purchase a truck, they can levy for the amount needed to cover the debt service. He noted that with the state-imposed levy limits, the towns are not able to raise their budgets to go into the equipment replacement fund.
Schmidt also noted that it would bring more value to the taxpayers to use their money to provide more service to taxpayers for things like roads, than to put more money aside for a future truck replacement.
“The trucks aren’t going to get cheaper,” said Fire commission chairman Joe Zenner, of the town of Hammel.
Schmidt agreed and said the system is unsustainable and suggested there would be more consolidations and longer response time for rural areas due to departments needing to close.
“It is tough,” said member Al Leonard, of the city of Medford, about the long term sustainability.
“It would be nice if we had open checkbooks,” Schmidt said. He noted the towns would not have the money at the end to pay the difference for the truck in 2030 regardless of if the contribution amount was increased making the call to keep the contribution to the truck replacement fund the same as the current budget.
Schmidt commended the firefighters for the care and upkeep they do on the fire trucks and equipment, noting they are all well maintained and look nice.
The costs for the Medford Area Fire Department are spread among the member municipalities based on their percentage of the total equalized value of the fire district. The idea being is that the municipalities with more value in property, which generally also equates to having more residents, should pay a higher amount of department expenses. While the city of Medford remains the largest of the member municipalities, the difference between the town members and the city is decreasing. The city is currently at about 34% of the equalized value of the fire district with the town of Medford the next highest at 26%. The other municipalities make up the remaining 40%.
Last week’s meeting was the first formal look at the projected 2025 budget. Municipalities will then take that draft budget back to their individual boards to get input with the budget to be finalized at the August fire commission meeting. This will allow the municipalities to have that number set before they begin their own budgets in early fall.
According to Filas, the biggest driver on the operational budget is due to a plan to raise firefighter wages from their current rate of $18 per hour to $21 per hour at the start of the budget year in January. Firefighters are paid for trainings, department meetings and their time on fire calls. For fire calls, this labor expense is billed back to the municipalities who, depending on how that specific municipality handles it, may bill it back to the property owners involved in the fire call.
Filas said they based the increase to bring it closer to what local industries are paying in starting wages. The last wage increase for firefighters occurred in 2020 when it was increased from $15 per hour to $18 per hour.
Filas explained that firefighters are loosing money by responding to fire calls versus staying at work.
The overall operational budget has about a $13,000 increase with about $7,500 of that coming from increases due to outside vendors. These range from an additional $2,000 for vehicle service, increases in building maintenance and insurance.
“Be mindful that a large part of the increase is driven by outside vendors,” Leonard said.
Currently the department has five open firefighting positions. However, Filas said they recently held interviews and are looking to bring three people into the department.
While there was broad consensus that an increase was needed, and it was on the agenda to be approved at the meeting, Schmidt and other members of the commission called for waiting on formal approval until after the budget was set.
“Nobody is questioning it,” Schmidt said of the need for the increase in wages, but he described the approval of the projected 9.3% total operational increase as being “questionable.”
Filas said his intent to have approval of the increase now, was to have a firm number when finalizing the department budget.
Schmidt disagreed and said they should raise the pay after they have the budget set so that they are not spending money they don’t have.
As part of the increase the amount paid to fire inspectors would increase to match that of firefighters. The last increase to that rate was in 2016.
No formal action was taken on the budget or proposed wage increase.
In other business, board members received word that they discovered hail damage on the fire hall roof from last summer’s hail storm that did tens of thousands of dollars in damages around the county. Department personnel noticed leaking issues in the fire hall and the roof was inspected showing about 40 different lacerations in the roof due to hail damage. At the direction of the insurance company, Filas got quotes for a new roof with prices of $87,000 and $97,000 depending on style of roofing material. He told members he did not know what portion would be covered by insurance.
