Fire protection is seen as a necessary service for municipalities, but recently concerns have been expressed by Robert Tackman, mayor of the village of East Syracuse, about the ability of the East Syracuse Fire Department (ESFD) to provide fire protection for DeWitt’s north-town fire district without a signed contract.
“We need to get a contract signed for the safety of the citizens in the northern part of the town,” stated Tackman in a press release dated Oct. 27. “Once we have a signed contract we can continue to work together to resolve the supervisor’s concerns regarding the protection contract but we need to get a signed contract now to ensure the safety of the citizens and properties in the northern part of the town are protected”.
Tackman said if an agreement between the two entities is not reached soon, then by Jan. 1, 2016, “the village of East Syracuse will have no choice other than to discontinue fire protection to the northern part of the town.”
For the past six months, the town of DeWitt has been working with the village of East Syracuse to reach a signed contract for the ESFD to provide fire protection to the north-town district, which includes the Park Hill, Franklin Park, Parkwood and Collamer neighborhoods.
According to DeWitt Supervisor Ed Michalenko, the town of DeWitt pays about $1.2 million per year to the village of East Syracuse for fire protection in this district.
In June, Michalenko stated his concern that the town of DeWitt was overpaying for fire protection. Michalenko said in June that since 2009, the town has paid about $6.4 million in payments to the East Syracuse Fire Department and the town is supposed to share the costs of fire protection with the village on an 80/20 split.
This 80/20 split should have resulted in about $4.6 million in payments by the town, which is why Michalenko said the town believes they have been overpaying for fire protection.
“So we’re looking at right now $1.8 million unsubstantiated dollars paid to the village of East Syracuse …We’d like to see the expenditures that show whether or not you actually spent the money on fire protection services,” said Michalenko in June.
Tackman attended the Oct. 26 meeting of the DeWitt Town Board to urge the board to approve a contract and inform the board they would not be able to continue fire protection if a contract was not signed soon.
Michalenko said he wanted to see a review of past ESFD expenditures to ensure the money being paid to East Syracuse from the town was being used for fire protection. DeWitt Councilor Jamie Frank, who is on the committee to form a fire contract between the two entities, said he had been working with East Syracuse to obtain these figures and would share them with Michalenko.
Chris Shields, the acting assistant chief for the ESFD said in a statement released Oct. 27 that under no circumstances does the department want the north-town district to be without fire protection and that the protection the ESFD provides to the town “far exceeds the value which the town of DeWitt pays for fire protection.”
“The town of DeWitt has valid concerns about a number of issues related to transparency and the village’s use of monies paid to the village for fire protection. Some of these issues may be historic and not indicative of the current situation. Nonetheless, as taxpayer dollars ultimately fund fire protection, the town of DeWitt must exercise due diligence in these and all contract negotiations… This ongoing feud is a significant distraction from operations of the East Syracuse Fire Department. At virtually every turn, the uncertainty of the situation interferes with both short and long term planning and budgeting,” said Shields in the statement.
