Despite two failed votes on the subject, the Cicero Fire Department still hopes to build a new fire station to replace Station No. 1 on Route 11.
The CFD held an informational meeting Oct. 27 to explain its new plan to the people of Cicero.
If they receive public approval later this month, the Cicero fire district will sell the four-and-a-half acre piece of property intended for the new building to the CFD, which will then use its building reserve fund to pay for construction of the new fire station. The fire district then would lease the new building from the department.
CFD officials say this plan prevents the need for an increase in taxes for homeowners in the Cicero fire district.
In February of this year, residents in the Cicero fire district voted down a $5.6 million proposal to build a new fire station. That proposal would have increased taxes by $75 per $100,000 of assessed value for Cicero fire district taxpayers, but would have resulted in no tax increase for those in the fire protection area outside the district.
In August, voters defeated a proposal to sell the property.
“We cannot build and we cannot sell,” Cicero Fire Commissioner Jim Perrin said of the district’s situation at the Oct. 27 meeting.
Fire district attorney Brad Pinsky explained that the new plan would allow the department to circumvent the Wicks Law, which requires separate contracts for different aspects of a project completed by a government entity.
“Wicks Law does not apply to a not-for-profit corporation,” Pinsky said.
The CFD is a nonprofit, while the fire district is part of the town of Cicero.
New price tag: $4 million
Perrin and Pinsky said they have negotiated the price of the new building down to $4 million, as the fire district intends to spend its $250,000-per-year building reserve fund to pay for the project over 16 years. Pinsky said the district would also be free to negotiate construction contracts instead of being locked to a bidding system.
Pinsky said the fire department has tried to convince the town to expand the Cicero fire district.
“Don’t punish your firefighters. Don’t punish yourselves. Don’t punish the fire department over the town’s inability or unwillingness — whatever it is — to create one large district,” Pinsky said at the meeting. “Don’t punish them with your vote.”
“No one’s punishing anyone,” said Joan Kesel, one of many residents who voiced concerns about the project during the meeting.
Pinsky said the department is in talks with private lenders, whom he did not name. He also did not answer residents’ questions about the financiers’ interest rate, saying it is “extremely low — lower than market rate.” He did say the rate would be fixed for the first seven to 10 years of the loan and then would increase “not significantly.”
Residents at the meeting voiced concerns about a possible tax increase, especially if the new building deal falls through.
Pinsky and Perrin repeatedly said the new building would not affect the fire district tax rate because it would be funded from the fire district’s building reserve.
Town talks ‘stalled’
Perrin said “talks have stalled” between the town and the fire district, especially during the recent budget creation process. Perrin said the town board will not address the discrepancy between the Cicero fire district tax rate of $1.28 per $1,000 of assessed value and the fire protection district tax rate of 88 cents per $1,000.
“They are not moving forward to determine why these rates are so far apart. They are not helping you district taxpayers,” Perrin said.
Three councilors of the Cicero town board — Mark Venesky, Tim Burtis and Mike Becallo — attended the CFD’s informational meeting.
“There has been some communication. [The budget’s] not a simple process,” Venesky said.
Venesky cited political differences among the five fire departments as one reason that developing the budget takes so long. He said the town is trying to bring the fire departments, commissioners and chiefs together.
“It’s not a magic wand, but to blatantly say that the town doesn’t want to work with you is false,” Venesky said.
The CFD is holding another meeting seeking public input at 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 10, at Fire Station No. 1, which is located at 8377 Brewerton Road in Cicero.
The vote on allowing the CFD to purchase the property from the fire district is scheduled to take place Nov. 18.
