Countywide Fire/EMS

[Danger 160]

Came to mind after reading in another thread...

If it wasn't for NY State laws...Dutchess is one of few counties that are in prime position to have a county based FD/EMS system implemented in a coordinated manner. Simliar to many systems with similiar demographics to Surburban Washington DC and Richmond, VA counties. Shame it would never happen.

A lot of people share this opinion. It seems to me like a great idea, even if it was just county EMS. So what exactly are these laws that stop this from happening, and why are they in place?

[ny10570 745]

Home Rule. It means that each municipality has the right to dictate what services it provides and how it provides them. The county can provide a service and offer communities the opportunity and incentives to join in, but thats about it.

[Jybehofd 85]

yea its home rule but look at long island they just have county cops out there and few local PDs......

What about starting slow with chagning ems to county like the paramedics so that maybe it would be easier to update the protocalls???? But that is a MUCH BIGGER fish.

[20y2 43]

Too many chiefs (literally), not enough indians.

[bil14ga 1]

A county wide fire/EMS department is way too progressive for us up here in Dutchess County. Why would we want to improve response times, save money, and possibly save lives/property?

Really now… It would be a great idea to create a county department. We could reduce the duplication of equipment (i.e. more rescue trucks than NYC), put people where we need them, and reduce response times. A career combination county wide fire/EMS department is well past due.

Let’s face it we have more apparatus than we really need and it is not always where it really needs to be. Staff is at best lacking both on the career and volunteer sides. Fire apparatus and ambulances do not take care of people in their time of need. It is people taking care of people. I would like to see a system of strategically placed career rigs that would respond to alarms all alarms. Volunteers would be able to respond to alarms as well but there would be a reduction of respond on the nuisance alarms.

Local fire companies would be allowed to keep their individual identities intact. There would be a true command structure. We would be able to address special operations, which is currently being neglected in my opinion.

This is about resource management in a day and age where the tax dollar needs to be stretched to get the most bang for it. People and equipment are our resources. Why waste the taxpayers’ dollars on the needless duplication. A county wide system should be embraced by everyone involved. This includes career, volunteer, elected officials, and most importantly the tax payer/customer.

[Oswegowind 17]

Too many chiefs (literally), not enough indians.

2nd that!!!!!!

It does make sense, and works elsewhere...oh yeah you know on the Left Coast, down South, Out West, but just like FD and EMS don't mix, having a county wide system is just that, LUDICROUS!

BTW I am kidding...I am in favor of centralizing everything and it seems I am in the lowly minority in this County!

[weaselff 6]

yea its home rule but look at long island they just have county cops out there and few local PDs......

What about starting slow with chagning ems to county like the paramedics so that maybe it would be easier to update the protocalls???? But that is a MUCH BIGGER fish.

Long Island is divided up a little differently than the rest of the state as far as municipalities go. There are very few incorporated villages and citiesso there are less homerule problems. Just about everyone lives in an unincorporated hamlet in a larger township, and these townships are huge! I currently reside in the town of Brookhaven with a pop. close to 300,000 spread out over about 250 square miles!!! There are something like 20 different FD's and school districts in my "town". It is a very different place than Westchester.

As for a unionized municipal county wide EMS or FD in Westchester or anywhere else in NYS, I really doubt seeing it anytimes soon, just because it would make sense.

[Monty 35]

I can't really see it working but how about if the County setup a system, charged residents through County taxes, and then let the local municipalities decide if the County service was a better deal than paying additional taxes and having their own service?

I suspect with Fire, it would be a bit more difficult because of the whole thing with Fire Districts etc, not sure that really applies to EMS as much though.

[Doc 11]

I can't really see it working but how about if the County setup a system, charged residents through County taxes, and then let the local municipalities decide if the County service was a better deal than paying additional taxes and having their own service?

I suspect with Fire, it would be a bit more difficult because of the whole thing with Fire Districts etc, not sure that really applies to EMS as much though.

The biggest issue preventing a countywide fire service is actually the New York State Constitution. It specifically designates New York as a Home Rule state. So, to change that would require a change to the state constitution - which would require a statewide vote. Furthmore, and I have to look it up, I think NYS Municipal Law specifically prohibits the collection of county taxes for the purpose of fire protection. I think I saw this specifically in reference to a judicial test of NYS constitutional law regarding that fact.

While there are exceptions (NYC for example - though that is actually a single municipality that encompasses many counties) any deviation would require the passage of an enabling law at the state level. So it would mean buttering up the crooks in Albany.

However there are viable options. One would be to dissolve all of the fire districts in the county (which would require a petition signed by a majority of the taxpayers in the district like in this case) and the formation of a countywide fire district - also requiring a petition and vote. The problem is that any fire district that doesn't pass the petition wouldn't be part of it. So, you could end up with a patchwork quilt of county and non-county jurisdictions. I know that a half dozen counties upstate are presently studying this option. It'll be interesting to see how these proposals work.

The other would be to form a countywide fire district starting in, say Poughkeepsie, and then offering municipalities the opportunity to "opt in" to it.