Carole Gilbert Brown
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Carnegie officials will sponsor a town meeting for suggestions on what to do about the borough’s Volunteer Fire and Rescue Bureau’s request for a 1.5-mill fire protection tax that would give the volunteers about $400,000 annually in operating funds.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 24 in the municipal building.
“I want the whole town to know [about this meeting],” Councilwoman Vera Freshwater said vehemently. “This is a big issue if we have to raise taxes.” Council has until Feb. 15 to reopen its 2008 budget.
Fire bureau members say they are behind on their mortgage payments and facing imminent foreclosure, but borough officials are dealing with financial constraints of their own.
“Fire issues are incendiary,"council member Dorothy Kelly commented after the meeting. “They ignite passions in people. For some, it’s the fear of a fire; for others, it is the protection of their turf.”
According to the bureau, it has insufficient operating money because of declining contributions from the community and businesses, lackluster fund raising in a town where 50 percent of the housing units are rented, and increasing costs for fire safety.
In June 2006, Chief John Kandracs asked for two mills dedicated to fund the bureau’s emergency operations, but no action was taken. Later that year, Council had to raise property taxes by 1.2 mills to balance the 2007 budget.
On Monday, Mr. Kollar said he did a study of taxes in Allegheny County’s 125 municipalities that revealed just 21 with higher tax bills than Carnegie. Another tax increase would mean only 10 communities would have higher taxes.
“We are not against doing something for the fire department. We have to find a way for you, but my opinion is we can’t do it with millage,” he told the firefighters.
Ms. Freshwater suggested holding bingos in the firehall, but bureau president Jeff Scott said the pumper trucks could not be left outside. Councilwoman Susan Demko proposed a $75 fire fee that would be charged to all residents, not just homeowners.
Standing in front of the large crowd on Monday, Councilman Fred Carini urged his colleagues “to give this fire department what they need,” a statement that garnered applause. He also said the borough had co-signed the mortgage on the bureau’s $1.2 million building at West Main and Second streets, which could force the borough into bankruptcy.
The bureau currently receives about $50,000 annually in subsidies and free gasoline from the borough. Carnegie also has assisted with various truck loans. Some officials would like to see more financial information from the volunteers, and see the fire department seek out more grant money.
Since fiscal year 2001, for example, more than $3.3 billion in Assistance to Firefighters funding has been distributed from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Mrs. Kelly said she plans to look at all the facts and figures and find out how other fire departments survive.
“We’re going to check into every aspect in an attempt to assist them,” she said.
Mr. Kollar, too, vowed to give the bureau serious consideration.
“This isn’t a one-man show,” he said. “We’re putting together a game plan as to what we can do.”
Copyright 2008 P.G. Publishing Co.