County Budget Cuts Mean New Fees for Volunteer Fire Departments

Rockland's budget ax has fallen again and this time it's the county's volunteer firefighters who are feeling the impact.

A reduction in the budget at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona has led to the implementation of new fees for local fire departments that use the county facility to conduct federally-mandated annual equipment checks. The inspections are done to ensure that the respirator mask carried by individual firefighters fit and work properly, according to Rockland Fire and Emergency Services Director Gordon Wren Jr.

The "fit tests" until recently were done as a free service at the Fire Training Center for volunteer fire departments, with the county maintaining the special computerized equipment required for the tests and providing a trained instructor to conduct the test. However, Wren said that the county no longer has enough funding to keep the service free. Instead, fire departments that use the training center for fit tests must now pay $30 per firefighter for the annual test.

Some fire departments do the testing on their own, but Wren said most of the tests are done at the training center.

The budget cuts, Wren said, do not affect basic and advanced firefighter training programs that the county provides to local volunteer fire departments at no cost. Wren noted the $30 fee is the same price the county charges to perform the fit tests for employees of local businesses that are required to maintain emergency equipment at the workplace.

The new fee has local fire officials throughout the county examining their options for conducting the fit tests. In New City, fire department Chief Art Kunz Jr. said the new fee was unexpected and there are no funds in the department budget to cover the estimated 70 tests his department has done each year.

Kunz said his department is currently reviewing the fee and alternatives for the fit tests. Wren said other fire officials throughout the county are also looking at their options, including buying their own equipment and sharing the gear and the expenses with neighboring fire departments.

Wren said he thought it made sense for the Fire Training Center to handle the fit tests countywide as a way to save fire departments - and local taxpayers - the costs for equipment and training required to conduct the fit tests. Although the new fee is in place, Wren said he and other county officials are still looking into possible federal funding to cover the costs of the fit tests.

The new fee for the fit tests has prompted Rockland County Legislators Jay Hood Jr. of Haverstraw, chairman of the Legislature's Public Safety Committee, and Robert Jackson of Nanuet to schedule a discussion today at the Allison-Parris County Office Building in New City to review the fee.

"I'd like to determine how this testing procedure was previously funded in the Office of Fire and Emergency Services budget, how the new charge will affect the budgets of our local fire departments and just, who, in the long run pays the tab," Hood said. "I understand we are under financial constraints in the county but passing the costs to the fire districts and villages will only burden the taxpayer more on the local level.  It is a service we have performed for 5 to 6 years, I believe we should find a way to continue the service."

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires the annual fit tests. 

Wren said that in addition to the newly-imposed fit test fee, the training center is   adjusting its training hours and availability of instructors for certain training sessions. Wren said the adjustments are not expected to have a significant impact on providing necessary training for volunteer firefighters.

Rockland County's fire service is run completely by volunteers, however, taxpayers cover the costs of firefighting equipment an expenses related to operating the fire department. Those taxes are collected differently throughout the county.

Some fire departments, such as New City, have an independent fire district that has taxing authority, with a board of trustees overseeing the financial operations seperate from the day-to-day firefighting operations led by the fire chief. In many of Rockland's villages, however, the fire department's expenses are part of the budget controlled by the local village board.

Wren said the new fees - or the costs of buying new fit test equipment - would likely be most difficult for the village fire departments, where village budgets are already stretched to cover municipal services.