Adams Selectman Revisit Fire District Service Agreement Tax
 Fire District officials suggested the Selectmen enact a surtax to compensate the district for fire coverage of homes outside the district. |
ADAMS, Mass. — The town may adopt a Fire District service agreement that would add half cent to the tax rate.
The Selectmen met with Clerk and Treasurer of the Prudential Committee Richard Kleiner and Fire District attorney Jeffrey Grandchamp at Wednesday's workshop meeting to discuss a fee that would provide the district compensation for fire protection its offer outside of the district.
"You have people outside of the district who have to rely on the fire district to come when there is a fire and put it out at their house," Grandchamp said. "People in the district are paying for that, and there is a certain unfairness to the people in the district.
"There is a free rider issue."
Legally, the district cannot charge residents outside of the district the annual $60 that district members pay. However the new agreement would ask the town to compensate the district by taxing everyone 25 percent of what the district would be paid if homes outside of the district were inside.
Grandchamp said there are 145 homes outside of the district. This multiplied by 25 percent of the full cost ($15) comes to approximately $2,175.
Grandchamp said the district felt the decreased price was fair and the district wants it for wear on equipment and other expenses when firefighters have to go outside of the district.
"Outside the district you don't have fire hydrants and you don't have the water to go with the hydrants so you don't charge the whole amount," he said. "The district decided that a 25 percent charge … is a reasonable charge."
Kleiner said little will change in how fires are actually fought. He said it may even help insurance costs outside of the district because legally the district does not have to respond to fire outside of its purview. He said this agreement would legally show an agreement between the town and district.
"That might help with the insurance rates even though we still help them without the agreement," Kleiner said. "The Fire Department will respond to a structure fire but legally they don't have to. Morally, we are all going to do it."
Kleiner added that the agreement would clarify interworking between the forest wardens and the Fire Department. Even though the forest wardens are responsible for homes outside of the district, the Alerts Fire Company would be in control of a structure fire. This would leave forest wardens in control of forest fires, even with aid form the Fire Department.
Selectman Richard Blanchard asked if the fee was actually fair to district members because all taxpayers are actually paying the new fee.
Grandchamp said the fee is an "imperfect solution" but a "relatively inexpensive solution."
Selectman John Duval asked Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco if the fee, although small, will affect the municipal budget Mazzucco wants to decrease through the next few years.
Mazzucco said he does not foresee any big issues with it, although it brings Adams dangerously close to its levy capacity, which is now close to $8,800.
"We are getting very close to that zero limit," Mazzucco said. "If we want we can go through the budget sometime down the road and amend it to include this as an additional expense that would come out of the extra levy capacity that will soon be wiped out."
The new fee was introduced to the board at a workshop in February. At that meeting, Fire District representatives mentioned a flat fee that could be imposed on houses outside of the district which would be procured through the town.
Grandchamp and Town Counsel Edmund St. John III said this would be controversial legally and the information shared at that meeting was incorrect. The agreement shown to the Selectmen on Wednesday night was created last year toward the end of Town Administrator Jonathan Butler's tenure. St. John said it was decided to bring forth the agreement when a new administrator was selected.
The agreement does not need town meeting approval and will be decided at next week's Selectmen's meeting.
Tags: fire district, surtax,
