LAMBERTVILLE: Fire budget, vehicle OKs are sought

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — The election Saturday will ask voters to approve the Board of Fire Commissioners’ $614,637 budget, return a commissioner to office and approve the purchase of a new multi-purpose vehicle for the Columbia Fire Company.
   If the budget passes, it would mean an approximately $7 increase for the average homeowner.
   The ballot question will ask voters to authorize the spending of $600,000 for a multi-purpose pumper, one capable of providing light and an air station for firefighters.
   Commission Chairman Mitch Ege said the cost would be offset by the sale of a pumper and an air truck. He estimated Monday their sale could bring in as much as $500,000.
   The proposed purchase goes against the recommendation of an expert’s feasibility study that recommended combining Columbia with another city fire company. The expert — William Flynn, a retired Paterson fire captain and former employee of the New Jersey Department of Treasury efficiency group — said if Columbia remains a part of the city’s fire department, the company’s members should “align themselves with one of the other companies to ensure a proper staffing response to incidents by the remaining companies.”
   The report also said Lambertville needs only one ladder and two pumpers. The city currently has a ladder at the Fleetwing and four pumpers — two at Union, one at Hibernia and one at Columbia.
   But Mr. Ege has disputed the recommendation, saying it does not take into account the city’s geography or its water needs, particularly the number of hydrants that remain insufficient or not working.
   Voters last year shot down a similar request for a new $595,000 Class A pumper for Columbia, a vehicle that did not provide light and air. Voters did not want to spend the money, even though the purchase would not have raised the tax rate. The commission had planned to buy the vehicle with funds they had saved. The commission would not have borrowed any amount of funding.
   If voters approve the purchase Saturday, a similar scenario would unfold. The cost would not affect the tax rate, and the purchase would be made with savings. The commission does not need to borrow money for the purchase, according to Mr. Ege.
   With the sale of the other two vehicles, the commission “would have more than enough money” to make the new buy, according to Mr. Ege.
   The commission has nearly $1 million in savings.
   The 2011 budget would set aside an additional $137,000 for savings.
   The budget would remain within the new state-imposed 2-percent cap. To achieve this, the commission would use approximately $18,000 more from its savings in 2011 than it did in 2010 to offset expenditures.
   The budget would rely on $491,219 from taxation. That’s $9,631 more than last year’s tax levy of $481,588.
   The budget is approximately $28,000 higher than last year’s $586,328 budget. The increase is due primarily to the need to purchase 20 sets of new turnout gear for firefighters. The current gear is approaching 10 years old, according to the commission.
   The tax rate would go from 6.6 cents per $100 of assessed value in 2010 to 6.8 cents per $100 of assessed value in 2011. The owner of a house assessed at the city average of $357,856 would pay $243.34 for fire tax.
   Last year, when the average assessment was $358,000 and the tax rate was 6. 6 cents, the average homeowner paid $236.28 for fire tax.
   Voters also will be asked to return Alex Cormier to office for a three-year term. He is running unopposed. Mr. Cormier, a city restaurateur, won election to a two-year unexpired term in February 2009.
   Voters may cast their ballots from 2-9 p.m. at the Justice Center, 25 S. Union St.