Washington Twp. VFD says it needs $100,000
WASHINGTON TWP. – The township’s volunteer fire department will need $100,000 to lift itself out of debt, according to Kim Houser, an attorney representing the fire department. At a special meeting on Monday, Houser told the supervisors, “$100,000 is the minimum amount of money that is needed to keep the volunteer fire department from financial catastrophe.”
Houser said that the fire department is currently trying to sell a 1987 Mach Engine and a 1984 Ford Tanker to recoup some of the debt. However, the total debt for vehicles for the fire department stands at $900,000.
Houser said that this amount of debt is not uncommon for townships and the fire department’s equipment is “very basic.”
After examining the fire department’s financial records, Houser offered some explanations as to why the department is experiencing financial difficulties. One of the main factors is that volunteers are scarce.
Houser said that the number of volunteers went from 43 in 1993, to 36 in 2000, to the current number of 22.
“Your fire company is now in a point of crisis because we’ve lost a lot of members,” Houser said.
Part of the reason for the decrease in volunteers, Houser said, could be attributed to the lack interest younger people show in volunteering and that many baby-boomers are getting older and not able to volunteer.
“It’s tough to get young people to volunteer. The first thing they ask is, ‘How much am I getting paid,'”Houser said.
People also may not want to volunteer because of the hours they have to dedicate to the fire department, according to Houser. He said with emergency calls, fire school calls and fund-raising efforts that the fire department totaled 7,729 man hours last year, which amounted to about 351 hours per volunteer.
Another factor of the department’s financial crisis may be because of lack of funds. According to Supervisor Joanne Latkanich, last year the fire department received $12,500 from the township and $15,000 from state Foreign Fire Relief.
According to statewide statistics, Houser said that the fire department needed $48,000 annually “just to keep the doors and lights on without any capital.”
Another problem identified by Houser is that the department has not been receiving adequate contributions from their fund-raising efforts.
He said that since Sept. 11, many people have been donating money to the New York Fire Department and not to local municipalities.
Fire Chief Randy Smalley said that the fire department’s fund-raising comes mainly from senior citizens who come to bingo, and younger people aren’t interested in bingo.
“The economy just dropped out. There’s just not enough bingo to go around,” Smalley said.
Houser suggested that the supervisors digest the information and try and come up with a solution.
“We’re not assessing blame. We need your help. We need your ideas,” he said. “This is a solvable problem with the fire department working with the supervisors with input from the citizens, it can be done.”
Latkanich said she understood the importance of the fire department for the community.
“What can be done, will be done,” she said.