Fairview (Dutchess) hears about benefits of fire consolidation

[JetPhoto 626]

Interesting, to bad the general public is only seeing what the press wants you to see.

“Research is research, but opinions are not research,” said City of Poughkeepsie Fire Chief Mark Johnson. “The document is full of opinions. It’s geared for Fairview.”

A full consolidation would have mixed financial results, with smaller districts seeing a tax-rate increase and larger districts seeing a decrease. Assuming a 2011 median sale price of $250,717, the median-priced single-family household would pay on average $978 per year in fire district property tax, the report said. This is lower than the current estimated annual taxes of $1,321 for Fairview and $1,276 for Arlington, but higher than the $292 for Hyde Park, $323 for Roosevelt and $183 for Staatsburg, the study found. The report also projected the portion of the tax burden related to the City of Poughkeepsie fire district at $1,047.

Staatsburg taxpayer Todd Bender supports a countywide police, fire and ambulance service, but said there is a lot of resistance, because “fire departments mark their territory more than a dog in heat.”

http://www.poughkeep...psieJournal.com

[38ff 250]

The problem is that to have a countywide fire dept you would need to change the NYS Constitution.. I doubt that will happen any time soon with the way things work in Albany..

[ny10570 745]

You don't need a constitutional change. You need each municipality to sign on to the county fd. Now that citizens can fairly easily start a referendum to dissolve a fire district all it takes is the will of the people to push this change forward.

[Bnechis 3,961]

You don't need a constitutional change. You need each municipality to sign on to the county fd. Now that citizens can fairly easily start a referendum to dissolve a fire district all it takes is the will of the people to push this change forward.

That works for Fire Districts & Fire Protection Districts it also works for municipal (village) FD's who disband. NYS City Law requries cities to have its own FD. Other communities can contract them, but they can not be disolved. And you are correct that this would not require a constitutional change, just a change in general municipal law.

[38ff 250]

I will research my statement, Im pretty sure I saw something somewhere that mentioned the NYS Constitution, or I may of misinterpreted something.

[sklov5949 23]

I will research my statement, Im pretty sure I saw something somewhere that mentioned the NYS Constitution, or I may of misinterpreted something.

That may be for a County Fire dept. This Particular research was for consolidation of surrounding Fairview FD's.

[gamewell45 258]

The problem is that to have a countywide fire dept you would need to change the NYS Constitution.. I doubt that will happen any time soon with the way things work in Albany..

Notwithstanding Albany, many volunteer departments in Dutchess have no desire to form a county FD.

While taxpayers can vote on a referendum to disolve the district, in many districts there most likely wouldn't be much support from the public in general; we have enough trouble getting the public out to vote very year for the commissioners election, getting them to vote to disband a district with in some cases, potential increased taxes isn't going to generate much support.

[ny10570 745]

The public doesn't vote because they don't care/don't know. If you gave them a reason they would turn out.

[gamewell45 258]

The public doesn't vote because they don't care/don't know. If you gave them a reason they would turn out.

Perhaps they would, perhaps they won't. I live in Dutchess County and can only speak for the area that I live in and most people here are content with the way things are and have no desire to see anything change on that magnitude.

[ny10570 745]

Perhaps they would, perhaps they won't. I live in Dutchess County and can only speak for the area that I live in and most people here are content with the way things are and have no desire to see anything change on that magnitude.

Maybe Dutchess wouldn't benefit from countywide consolidation. Has anyone sat down and looked at what, if any savings or improvements could be made? Are there any villages or hamlets that are struggling to cover an area that they could better cover together? I know very little about Dutchess, but I'm willing to bet this hasn't been tackled yet and if it has, I guarantee the public doesn't know.

[JetPhoto 626]

Over the last 10 - 15 years Dutchess had a huge influx of city people as well as people from Long Island and lower Westchester. Many of these people don't know that departments are volunteer or what that even means. They just want help to respond when they dial 911.If it was put out to the public during a regular election most would not know the difference.

[gamewell45 258]

Maybe Dutchess wouldn't benefit from countywide consolidation. Has anyone sat down and looked at what, if any savings or improvements could be made? Are there any villages or hamlets that are struggling to cover an area that they could better cover together? I know very little about Dutchess, but I'm willing to bet this hasn't been tackled yet and if it has, I guarantee the public doesn't know.

Perhaps the career/combo departments might benefit from some type of consolidation since some of them are rather costly to the taxpayers (Fairview and Arlington come to mind) and this could help to reduce overall costs to the public in those districts..