Newtown Borough Seeking Restructured Fire Services Agreement

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — Members of the Newtown Borough Council are scheduled to meet this week with Newtown Township officials to discuss the terms of a new fire services agreement.

Due to escalating costs, at its May meeting the council voted to notify the township that it is terminating its participation in the current agreement with a goal of re-evaluating and restructuring the terms.

“We have made it clear that we’re looking for a simple provider-customer type of agreement that doesn’t have all the stuff that’s muddying it down right now,” said Council President Emily Heinz.

Councilman Josh Phillips, who serves on the borough's fire services negotiating team with Heinz and borough manager Craig Totaro, added that since signing the agreement the millage rate as gone up more than 40 percent.

“The concern is a lot of the mechanisms in the agreement are not working out in a way that allows us to adjust and plan and think about the future and do our due diligence for our taxpayers. This is something we need to reconsider.”

Heinz said the township had already presented the borough with a number for 2026. “In order to get to that number, we’d have to raise our millage to nine. The limit is 10,” she said. “We’re really going to have to talk about the cost,” she said.

The borough increased its fire tax millage in 2025 by two mills from 2.125 to 4.125 mills to pay for the
fire services agreement. Under its 2022 agreement with the township, its annual cost has jumped from $147,000 in 2023 to $275,000 in 2025.

Under those terms of the 2022 agreement, the borough began paying the township an annual base fee of $147,155 plus an automatic five percent escalation increase each year over the course of the agreement.

The agreement is based on Newtown Borough’s percent of population versus the township’s, the
assessed value of homes and the number of calls.

Also under the agreement, the borough began contributing up to 10 percent a year toward capital expenses.

Up until 2022, the township had solely been footing the bill for its career firefighters and a full-time paid fire chief who were brought on board to supplement a dwindling volunteer force.