Fire study remains on hold

Monroe mulls consolidation of districts.

By: Bill Greenwood
   MONROE — Research into whether Monroe’s three fire districts should be consolidated is still on the backburner, but township officials say it will continue in the future.
   The study was put on hold around August or September after the governor called the state Legislature into special session last summer and the legislative leadership appointed four joint committees to review property tax reform. The committees issues a report in November.
   Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton said he believes the study is still needed because the state did not do enough to address the consolidation issue.
   "We were hoping that the state would look at this very issue, but again, they stopped short of that," he said.
   Township Council President Gerald Tamburro said he expects the Consolidation Study Committee — made up of two members of the Township Council, Mr. Hamilton, two members from each fire commission and volunteers and officers from the three township fire companies — to reconvene.
   "It will come back for further meetings," he said. "I don’t know what the time frame is, but we will meet and address other issues."
   The committee was formed to address complaints made by taxpayers at council meetings in 2006 about disparity among the three districts’ tax rates.
   For 2007, the tax rates are 16 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for Fire District 1, 17 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for Fire District 2 and 26 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for Fire District 3. Under those rates, the owner of a house assessed at $200,000 would pay $320, $340 and $520 in fire taxes, respectively.
   Mr. Hamilton said the committee did conduct research before being suspended but not enough to come up with findings or formal recommendations.
   If the committee eventually recommends consolidating fire districts, the council would then have to review the proposal. The council has the authority to dissolve the districts by ordinance, as long as it has the approval of the state Department of Community Affairs’ Local Finance Board.