County: No New Fees for Fire Departments

The fire's out.

Rockland volunteer fire departments that they were going to be burned by county budget cuts have been rescued, at least for 2010. County officials confirmed Wednesday night that funds have been located to pay the costs of federally-mandated equipment checks for active firefighters.

Because of budget cuts at the county's Fire Training Center in Pomona, local fire departments were about to be charged $30 per person for every volunteer firefighter sent to the training center for the annual "fit test" for their respirator mask. Until the cuts, the test was provided free by the training center, which has the special equipment and trained instructor needed for the tests.

Gordon Wren Jr., Rockland's director of Fire and Emergency Services, said his department has gotten clearance to use money from an existing federal grant to cover the costs that were about to be passed on to local volunteer fire departments.

"I am happy to say we have come up with a solution," said Wren, who like department heads throughout the county government, is trying to preserve essential services while also cutting back on spending.

The training center provides basic, advanced and specialized training programs for free to all Rockland fire departments - which are all 100 percent volunteer. The budget cuts, Wren said, have not affected the firefighter training programs.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires the annual fit tests to ensure firefighters are properly equipped. However, OSHA does not provide funding for the tests.

Some local fire departments do the testing on their own, but Wren said most of the tests are done by the training center. Under a revised plan, Wren said the county will be able to continue the tests for free for the rest of 2010. Beyond that, Wren said, he is working with local fire officials throughout the county to expand the number of trained instructors who can perform the mask fit test.

Additionally, Wren said his department will be able to buy another $11,000 testing machine that can be loaned out for local fire departments to conduct the tests.

Wren said a financial review at the training center has revealed the facility is producing more revenue than expected through the training it provides - such as fit tests - to local businesses and industries that must have on-site emergency personnel. For the past four months, more than 500 tests generated a profit of $3,460.

When Wren announced the mask fit test fee was coming, some volunteer fire departments ajusted budgets to account for the costs while others were considering options such as combining with neighboring departments to do the tests on their own.

The fee, Wren said, would not have been charged to individual firefighters. The fees would have been charged to the fire departments.

Some fire departments, such as New City, have independent fire districts that have 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 have been most difficult for the village fire departments, where village budgets are already stretched to cover municipal services.

As word of the planned fee reached local fire officials, Rockland County Legislators Jay Hood Jr. of Haverstraw, chairman of the Legislature's Public Safety Committee, and Robert Jackson of Nanuet called for a special discussion Wednesday at the Allison-Parris County Office Building in New City to review the fee. By the time the 5:15 p.m. meeting began, the issue had been resolved.

However, at the same meeting of the Public Safety Committee, legislators heard of additional problems from fiscal cuts that still need to be settled. Louis Falco, chief of the Sheriff's Department's Police Division, said his department is expected to run $30,000 short in 2010 to cover the costs of its mounted unit.

Falco said the department estimates it does not have enough money to feed and house its horses beyond September.