It’s going to cost more in the Town of Ballston to have fires put out by the Round Lake Fire District if the Town Board approves the 7 cent raise per $1,000 assessed house value that the fire department has requested.
The town is served in part by the Round Lake Fire District and is currently paying 60 cents per $1,000 assessed house value. The fire district originally requested a 30-cent raise to 90 cents in an effort to get a more consistent rate for all the communities they serve.
“Their thought was to try to get a consistent rate,” said Ballston Supervisor Patti Southworth. “There was no intent to randomly raise the charge so high.”
The Round Lake Fire District also serves the Town of Malta, as well as its own Round Lake Community. According to Kevin King, the comptroller for the Town of Malta, the current rate is 82 cents per $1,000 assessed house value.
Further complicating matters for Ballston is that the town is also served by Ballston Lake, Burnt Hills and Ballston Village fire departments, each of which charges its own rate. Southworth, who was on the negotiating team with the Round Lake Fire Department, said she wanted to ensure a consistent rate between all fire companies.
She said the board originally offered Round Lake 61 cents, which was more consistent with the contracts the town has with Burnt Hills and Ballston Lake.
“There was back and forth discussions between Round Lake Fire Department and the Village of Round Lake,” said Southworth.
Southworth said the hose company has an agreement that they are part of the negotiations. She said all parties eventually agreed that instead of charging a set dollar amount like the agreement the town has with Ballston Spa Village, Round Lake would get more money through the assessed value amount.
In order to reach the figure of 67 cents that was finally settled on, the negotiating teams took the rate per thousand that is charged by Ballston Lake and Burnt Hills fire departments and averaged them.
“They agreed it was a fair rate,” said Southworth. “We all sat down and had good negotiations. There is a lot of respect and good working relations. This compromise is something everyone should be proud of.”
Southworth said the final number should be good news for taxpayers.
“That keeps us under the tax cap,” said Southworth. “Every adjustment affects us.”
She said the last contract was negotiated in 2008 and became effective in 2009. Fire service contracts typically run for three years.
“The reality is that as more houses are being built, fire departments will need an increase in funds for training,” said Southworth. “This new rate gives the company the money for necessary training to provide the best fire protection.”
Councilman Bill Goslin lauded Southworth’s negotiating efforts at the Dec. 4 meeting.
“I want to thank Supervisor Southworth for working out a good compromise that will have all the fire districts at a consistent rate,” he said.
The Town Board held a public hearing on Dec. 27 on the proposed rate, but no comments were registered.
The board will vote on the new rate at the Jan. 8 meeting.
Members of the Round Lake negotiating team could not be reached for comment.