Pa. Fire officials Slam Department's Funding Plan

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Nov. 17--Alpha Fire Co. No. 1 has received a yearly donation of $2,000 from the Borough of Littlestown for the past several years.

And in next year's budget, the borough council is proposing to again allocate $2,000 to be split between the fire department and the emergency medical services at Alpha, headquartered on East King Street.

For Alpha officials, though, that $2,000 is woefully low compared to the services the company provides the borough. And Alpha members turned out in force at the council's regular meeting Tuesday evening to protest its proposed budget allocation and council's apparent snub of Alpha's earlier request for a sizeable donation increase.

Alpha Fire Co. Chief Scott Small called the borough's planned $2,000 donation a "slap in the face."

"This is far from appropriate," he said.

Small said the borough accounts for at least 39 percent of the company's services, but that it contributes the least to Alpha.

Small said the borough previously paid some of the utilities for the fire company, about $32,000. That was before the borough sold the former community center building next door to the fire station to the company for $1 in 2009. Since then, the borough has stopped paying for utilities.

"We now incur that $32,000," Small said.

Fire company officials also pointed to a 2007 ordinance that said the borough shall devote no less than 25 percent of its local-services tax to emergency services funding.

"As far as I know, we haven't seen one red cent of that," Small said.

The local services tax is collected from residents and non-residents who are employed in the borough at an amount of $42 per year.

An additional $10 collected in the local services tax is split between the school district and the borough.

The borough is projecting $45,000 in revenues from the local services tax for 2012.

Council President David Wheeler said he would look into the requirements of that ordinance early next week.

"I wasn't on council at the time," he said. "It didn't mean the whole 25 percent has to go to the fire department. It has to go to emergency services, which is also the police department."

During an August presentation to council, Alpha officials outlined the department's revenues and expenses and requested a contribution of $50,000 from the borough in 2012. Officials noted in that presentation that Mount Joy Township was slated to provide $19,250 to Alpha in 2011, Union Township $20,000 and German Township $16,000.

Although the company is working on plans to eventually replace its 125-year-old firehouse, the $50,000 contribution would be used to pay for new equipment, payroll for its 10 paid personnel, and maintenance, utility and fuel costs, officials said at the time.

Wheeler said the borough is in the same financial situation as other municipalities.

"Everybody needs more and nobody has more," he said.

Wheeler said the August presentation spurred the council to examine other avenues of funding volunteer emergency services departments in the county.

"There are several municipalities we are working with," Wheeler said. "So far, it's coming together. Maybe after the first of the year we could have something going."

Wheeler said he hopes to see the county's Department of Emergency Services review which fire companies cover which areas to help eliminate overlapping services.

"We need a more efficient way of addressing the funding through the municipalities," he said. "But before we do anything about funding, we need to get coverage as efficient as possible."

The borough does pay around $12,000 in workman's compensation coverage for Alpha company personnel, but gets reimbursed for about half of that, according to fire officials.