At a special session held Monday, June 28, the Village of Brockport Board of Trustees passed a resolution to refund $175,000 in fire protection payments misappropriated from the towns of Sweden and Clarkson.
The vote was 3-2 in favor of the resolution. Mayor Castaneda voted in favor of the resolution, joined by Trustees Legg and Martin. Trustees Hunsinger and Blair voted against the resolution.
The resolution was functionally the same as a resolution brought to the Board by the Mayor several months ago, which was voted down by the same 3-2 margin. Trustee Legg switched his vote from nay to aye this time, allowing the resolution to pass. No word on the reason for his change of heart on this issue.
The Village Board voted to pay back the money to the towns by placing an additional $35,000 per year over five years into a reserve fund used for the fire department. This technically means that the money will not be “returned” to the towns, instead it will lower their expected payments into the fire department budget during that time.
The resolution was prompted by the threat of legal action from Sweden and Clarkson after both towns discovered that fire department budget surpluses, typically returned to the towns at the end of the year for as long as anyone could remember, were instead converted, over the past several years, to support the Village's general fund during difficult financial times.
At a co-Town and Village workshop Tuesday night, June 29, leaders from Sweden and Clarkson were generally positive regarding the measure, but cautious. As one leader commented, the Village's action was simply a resolution, and the real test will be whether the Village substantially honors that pact.
The conversion of fire department funds was just the latest item to come to light in the Village's mishandling of the fire department, stemming from Trustees' attempts to appear as though they are taking action to fix Village finances while not touching their sacred cows.
The other large example of this in the past year was, of course, the fiasco with dispatch. The Trustees came to the conclusion, with apparently no forethought or study, that eliminating fire dispatch would cause no problems and immediately fill the Village coffers with piles of cash. Of course, it didn't turn out that way. Halfway through the process, after Trustees Legg, Hunsinger, and Blair voted to end dispatch, the Towns realized they paid 78% of the cost of dispatch (and the rest of the fire department) and wanted to keep what they had paid for. The Village was forced to reverse their hasty decision.
What would eliminating fire dispatch do? It would save money, no doubt. In the larger context of maintaining a volunteer fire department, however, would it be worth the savings? Savings estimates calculated by the Trustees when they originally voted ranged from $30,000 to $50,000. The cost of dispatch is higher, of course, but without a 24/7 presence at the fire station there were other costs that would be added out of necessity and what the law says needs to be available.
The cost of nickel-and-diming our fire department could end up being much greater, however. As pointed out above, Brockport maintains an all-volunteer department. Every firefighter, officer, and leader of the department receives exactly zero dollars to do their job.
If we as a Village do not maintain a certain level of care for our volunteers, they will quit. Volunteers do not do their duties for perks or special treatment, but at some point their admirable sense of service to the community will be outweighed by the sense that the Village has abandoned them or made them a scapegoat for the financial woes caused by the Trustees and our fixed boundaries.
If Brockport can no longer find enough volunteers to do the job, caused by the Village government's mishandling of their department, what is the cost to taxpayers? In a word, huge.
According to the website seethroughny.net, which collects employee cost data for New York, the average paid firefighter in upstate New York easily costs more than $100,000 per year in salary and benefits. That's one firefighter. In the Town of Henrietta, for example, the average firefighter made $73,264 in salary in 2009.
As we know, about $21,000 in Village spending increases is a 1% tax increase for Village taxpayers. At a rate of $100,000 per year per firefighter, and with the Village paying about 22% of the fire department budget, there is a simple estimate of firefighter cost that proves the point.
Each paid firefighter that would need to be hired to take the place of volunteers who quit and cannot be replaced would represent, at minimum, a 1% tax increase. If we need 10 paid firefighters, your taxes go up at least 10%. Think about that the next time a Village Trustee proposes we shave a few thousand dollars from the fire department to prop up some other budgetary sacred cow they are protecting.
The compensation for firefighters only begins there. For example, New York state has a law stating that, if a paid firefighter is injured on the job and can no longer perform his duties, the taxpayers must continue to give him his full salary and benefits for the rest of his life and hire another firefighter to take his place, doubling the cost of that position overnight. Compensation for volunteer firefighters injured in the line of duty, by comparison, is limited by statute to a meager $400 per week.
Being a volunteer is a difficult job, done for love of service and community. Volunteer firefighters risk their lives, and our Village government thanks them by squeezing them for every dollar they can get and using their budget to hide the real financial problems of the Village.
When considering the needs of our volunteer firefighters, and their cost, it's important to consider what we save by keeping them interested in volunteering. Our volunteers provide a great service to the community, not only by showing up when we have an emergency, but also by refusing to do what the Village Trustees and their supporters so cavalierly do whenever they want more money – reach into the taxpayers' pockets.
Comments
Don't you have an ambulance to chase or something?
I just want to thank all Fire Department volunteers. Your dedication to our community is greatly apreciated, and you have the support of the residents of the Village of Brockport, the Town of Clarkson and Town of Sweden. I always donate to the BFD, and I will increase my donations. Hope you find a way to shelter the donations from the greedy fingers of the Village Board. BFD volunteers do not receive the credit they deserve for the sacrifices they make for us. THANK YOU!!!
Where do you get off speaking for all residents of Brockport, Clarkson & Sweden? I live in Sweden and have long wished we had a professional, paid fire department. In my opinion, too many of the volunteer firemen are prima donnas who think the rest of the community should kiss their asses and fall all over ourselves whenever we are in their presence. These guys give the rest of the firemen a bad name.
of Dan Kuhn!! Dan keep up the good work! Tell it like it is and let the cry babies whine all they want. We not only want but need your fair reporting. I can not wait until you take the chair to the left of Connie. Having a person with bright new ideas on the board will be awesome!! Connie will finally have someone to count on. Someone who won't be afraid to take on or take down the "all mighty" police dept and bring the chief and the weak @ss union in line with the wish of the public. To the fat cat cops your days are numbered....FINALLY a bright light and another person to be proud of will soon be leading the village!!!!!!!!!!
If it is true that Kuhn will be a trustee, then there is hope that finally taxpayers could get a break. We need somebody with Dan's moral and ethical fiber to help lead our village. Dan has never been afraid of taking difficult issues honestly and head on. Connie has made a wise choice. Connie has been the only obstacle in Varrenti's quest to control the village. Together, Connie and Kuhn will surely be able to serve residents well.
Connie and Dan beats 3 of a kind (Scott,Kent.Carol) ant day. Finally someone other then Connie with a brain will be on the board. Finally we can now get rid of "the lap dog" and get a pit bull on the board. THANKS Connie
Don't you actually have an opinion about the issues? Or are you just here to be a hater?
Even if Dan's house was crumbling...which it is not thanks to his continuing work to improve and maintain it, which by the way takes time........Can you tell me what your opinion is on the issues? Do you have one or are you just here to bash a person rather than to help offer constructive ideas to solve problems?
Did you wish to express an opinion about the issues or do you just want to distract from the issues by remaining in personal attack mode?
It's interesting to note that many who oppose Dan can only present personal attacks? Can't any of you offer constructive critisism or contructive ideas to help the community. Apparently not
I apparently won’t find any constructive ideas from you either. Don’t you have any thoughts of your own other than personally bashing anyone who disagrees with you? The proposal to dissolve the village was an attempt to get rid of the ridiculous overlapping government that causes wasteful duplication of services and wasteful spending. Not to destroy the community or get rid of the police. There are many communities in other parts of the country that don’t have two governing bodies but are very cohesive communities with unique identities, police protection, fire protection and community spirit without the wasteful double governing bodies. Two government buildings for two separate governing bodies that govern the same place across the street from each other? Just that alone is silly. If you really need two governments why not share a building. You get real, not that I expect you to. What I expect is you’ll be back with more personal attacks because that is all you can come up with.
Hahaha, I’m really not Rhett, promise, but I sure am having a good time keeping you guessing. I never even heard Rhett say anything so you can’t even accuse me of repeating “verbatim” what I heard from Rhett. But I like it, you are finally offering a solution/idea in addition to your usual people bashing. Good, nice to see you can! That was my ultimate goal anyway. I just happen to think that continuously focusing on personalities or perceived personality faults (perceived when you actually don’t know the person) is not the direction this discussion should take. Express your real views, that’s all I ask. I have no problem with anyone who disagrees respectfully. All have the right to freedom of speech but ethically and morally all should remember that does not need to include personal attacks. That only really serves to make people question your genuine convictions and hurts YOU. Now we just need for you to ONLY offer your view and drop the personal attacks
You want some ideas to help the village OK. Not all my own but here are few. Village property being taxed at what they are. Not single family homes when we all know they are inns or rental property. Sewer fee. Get Connie off the board! Get Kleen Bright cleaned up and sold. Maybe leveal it and put in housing for students like they have on Redman Rd. Tell Lifetime no more free (untaxed) homes. Let them move to Sweden. Bring the car show back to Main St. It drew hundreds and hundreds of people to down town. Yes a VILLAGE COURT. We pay for the best damn local police dept and Sweden grabs most all of the money. It would show just how valuable OUR local police dept truely is. They work very hard for ALL of us not matter what side of the vote you were on. With a village court the PD could just about carry the village out of the deep financial hole the village is in all by themselfs. Encourage people to run for the village board who have the background to do the job and stop the name calling.
Yaaaay, finally just your point of view. Very nice! Now if you can convince all others to stick to the issues that would be wonderful and perhaps some middle ground can be found and problems can actually be solved. I suspect everyone on both sides wants basically the same things. A nice, safe community to live in with reasonable taxes that provide for needed services with no waste of the taxpayers valuable money.
Pro-Brockport won the election. Why should they reach a "middle ground" with the pro-dissolutionist forces who lost by a wide margin (who have already resumed their lawsuit against the village)? Hey, Dan, Rhett, Sharon, etc., your ideas have been rejected by the voters. Get over it and move on. You guys lost the right to set the agenda. That privilege now belongs to others.
The reason a middle ground should be met is because over 600 people voted for dissolution vs over 900 not to dissolve. I calculate that as about 0.6 vs 0.4. I think it’s important to listen to all the voters. Just over half vs just under half is not a wide margin in my mind. Obviously there are a number of people who are very concerned about the status quo…….enough to vote for dissolution. People typically don’t like change. The fact that nearly half of the voters voted for such a change suggests they are pretty unhappy with the way things have been. The dissolution idea was rejected by 0.6 of the voters, not ALL the voters. You are correct the privilege of making decisions now falls those in favor of keeping the village government intact (until the next election). I would think if they are ethical and moral leaders they would want to consider all reasonable ideas and address the voice of ALL voters, including looking at the message more than 600 voters were sending...continuted
continued... Certainly, the plan will include keeping the village government at this point, that is what is right and fair. Those in favor of the village government have the majority vote and should therefore have the majority voice. However, the minority voice should not be ignored, especially since they are a large number of voters. That’s what I meant by middle ground. Either far extreme is probably not what is best for the community. Now is the time to prove the village can be made to work within the means of the taxpayers. Time to put your ideas/solutions where your votes are. By the way, had the dissolution side won I’d be urging the dissolution folks to consider the voice of those on the other side. That’s how a democracy works. To all: Happy Independence Day (a day late). Isn’t it wonderful we have the opportunity to voice opinions so openly about our government? Don’t take that freedom for granted!
Heres another idea to help save the village. Fire the village lawyer who represents the village during village code court night. Dismissing parking tickets, less then minium fines for village code arrest. If you didn't know better you would think he worked for the Town of Sweden. Parking meters on Monroe Ave., South Main St south of Holley St. and on College St. Also there is an old trucking plant on S Ave that could be less expensive to rehab into student housing like the Redman Rd complex. If I am right (and when I have been wrong) it comes with a lot of land. What ever became of the talk a few years ago of providing Village electic. It would be something to help attract bussniess and help make it less expensive to live here.
Actually, I think your math is off. 645 voted for dissolution while 911 voted against it. By my calculations that is 41% in favor of dissolution and 59% against. How do you get “2 out of 3” opposed dissolution from that? That would have to be closer to 33% for dissolution and 66% against. 41% of the voters should leave Brockport? Brockport would be better off if they left? I think you are wrong to totally discount 41% of the voters but that is your right to do that. I just hope the leaders do not or it will likely cause more divisiveness.
As far as deleting posts I believe if there is foul language or libelous statements the examiner is required to delete them. If folks would behave respectfully and stick to the issues rather than distracting with personal attacks, likely the posts would remain. Certainly I've seen plenty that have been critical of Dan if he were deleting all that were critical of him there would be many more deleted.
If you went to meeting you would know that the trucking company on South is becoming a church which removes it from the tax roles, along with Island Tan on Main which is also a church now.
When ever someone is a change agent there are always those who don’t like them. Mostly because people are resistant to change, even positive change. Many of our best leaders have been wildly unpopular such as, Lincoln, and Roosevelt just to name a few. Leaders lead even when that means some or even many won’t like you. Politicians try to please all and make everyone like them. Congratulations Dan, you still have lots to be proud of. If I were Dan I don’t think I’d care if those who have been focusing on so negatively on him personally instead of offering positive ideas like him. By the way I know many people in Brockport who like, and respect Dan.
What one person perceives as positive may not be perceived as positive by others. Apparently 645 people thought dissolving the village government would be a positive change. By the way, it's not about dissolving the village, it's about dissolving the village government. There is a difference. Brockport would still be Brockport, just without the high taxes associated with the duplication of services now seen.
Dan loves Brockport too and wants to see it thrive and survive. It doesn’t even make sense that he is trying to destroy Brockport. What would he gain by that? He and his family live there. His children will go to school there. Its in his best interest to do what he thinks is best for the community. Just because his idea of what will work best doesn’t agree with yours doesn’t automatically make him a bad person who wants to destroy the village. Can’t you see that reasonable people can have similar goals but have differing ideas of how to achieve those goals? Why do Tom Mangan’s supporters consistently have to make it personal? Stick to the issues. You demonstrate by your persistence to make it personal that you have no integrity.
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