A 58% fire tax increase as a North East moves to a paid fire company

NORTH EAST — The town of North East, which includes the village of Millerton in nearby Dutchess County, N.Y., is moving forward with a plan to do something that Northwest Corner towns in Connecticut have been fearing they will have to do themselves. North East is beginning plans now to augment its all-volunteer fire service, which has served the town for more than a century, since 1892,with paid professional firefighters.

North East Fire District Fire Commission member Joshua Schultz explained in a roundtable interview with The Millerton News on Oct. 9 that there will still be volunteers in North East and the fire district will still exist. But there will be a new, paid staff that will work in tandem with the volunteers.

Many towns in Connecticut and New York already have ambulance services that work in the same way, with some professionals working side by side with the volunteers.

The North East Fire District will oversee the Millerton Fire Company volunteers as well as the paid staff, Schultz said. The paid firefighters would be hired from a pool of candidates in the county from a list of graduates from the fire safety academy.

The biggest change, Schultz said, would be in the district’s infrastructure, with a need for additions to the firehouse such as sleeping quarters, a fitness center, an improved kitchen and showers.

A 58% increase
in fire fees

The roundtable meeting with The Millerton News included Fire Commission member Joshua Schultz, Chairman Stephen Valyou and Vice Chairman James Schultz.

The commissioners are trying to inform taxpayers ahead of time of the details of a budget they will present at a public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 19.

That budget shows a 58% increase in fire district fees, in anticipation of moving toward the paid service.

Joshua Schultz explained in an email after the roundtable that, “The increase will be used to begin building the infrastructure needed for a paid staff.

“Currently our facilities do not have the needs of such a staff like sleeping quarters, a fitness center, improved bathrooms with showers and an updated kitchen.

“The monies raised now will be used to create the environment needed to accommodate a paid staff as well as other capital improvement projects that fall along those lines.”

The commission felt that it would be better to begin planning and fundraising now —with a 58% increase — rather than to wait until the decision is made to move to having paid professionals, and hitting taxpayers with what could be a 100% to 150% increase in fees.

No date has been set yet for the change to hiring professional firefighters.

It’s possible, in fact, that the town will never make that move.

“It really depends on how well we are able to maintain and hopefully grow our volunteer base that continuously is able to respond to emergencies in our community,” Schultz said.

A need
for volunteers

All the fire and ambulance companies in the Tristate region are faced with the same challenge. It’s getting harder and harder to find volunteers who will do the many hours of training and who can be available around the clock to help in emergencies.

In North East, according to James Schultz, there are about 59 fire company members but only somewhere between 16 and 27 are “truly active.”

And many of those volunteers are aging out. The average age is 44. One dedicated volunteer with the company is Bernie Silvernail: He’s 89 and has been active with the fire company for 72 years.

At the same time, especially with new full-time residents in the area because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are more demands on the volunteers. “We have a staff that’s burned out by an increasing call volume,” said Joshua Schultz. “North East is experiencing more calls.”

“I would say there’s between a 20 to 25% increase in calls,” Chairman Stephen Valyou agreed.

The influx of new full-time residents could be a blessing for volunteer fire and ambulance squads, of course. It’s entirely possible that new (and potentially younger) homeowners will be inspired to step up and do some of the essential emergency services jobs. Not all of them involve rushing into burning buildings or going on ambulance calls. Another essential skill: Being able to write grants.

The 58% budget increase for North East includes a salary for a grant writer.

“In the past we tried to do it ourselves, but grant writing is very competitive,” said Joshua Schultz. “For someone like us to work a normal job and also to write grants is tough; so we placed a line in the budget for a grant writer.”

At this point, the future of this and other area fire companies remains unwritten. Part of what will determine the future is whether the community is able to support its volunteer emergency service teams.