Laserfiche WebLink
Our fire fighters already train together and work together on mutual aid calls. Why not standardize the <br />equipment used, and policies so that they could report to the station that is closest to them when they <br />are needed. <br />8. Perception of Communities working together to save money: <br />Perception of Communities working together to save money: <br />In years past every city has seen their tax bases and local government aid shrink considerably. The initial <br />transition of a joint fire effort could actually raise our respective budgets the first one to two years. But <br />as the joint fire group evolved, and as most current models show, a true financial savings can be <br />recognized by working together. With the correct formula each city involved would contribute <br />equitably. This would lessen the financial strain by redundancy in the procurement of equipment, <br />training and personnel we all budget for currently. Also taking this step would change "mutual aide <br />assistance" calls to "our" department responded accordingly. <br />9. Opening the Door for Further Cooperative Ventures <br />As the Joint Fire Service Study Group has been working towards possible areas of sharing, we have <br />noticed there are potentially other areas of sharing that have not been discussed yet. The five cities that <br />have dedicated time to faithfully attend the shared services meetings have learned how far we have <br />evolved in cooperative emergency services. Particularly on the "naturalness" of mutual aid on how it <br />operates very well today; whereas many, many years ago there were such parochial issues that outside <br />assistance felt like a failure. <br />Some of our committee cities are already visiting about other areas of sharing, cooperating, or generally <br />doing things together to ultimately save money. This is partially a symptom of the time, and partially <br />through the efforts of getting fellow appointed and elected officials together. Regardless of the <br />reasoning, this effort is allowing committee participants to better recognize avenues of sharing. <br />IV. Issues <br />1. Firefighter Relief Association <br />A Firefighter Relief Association is typically setup by fire departments to receive funds from the state and <br />the municipalities for funding a retirement pension plan for firefighters. The organization is usually a <br />nonprofit organization and is legally separate from the fire department itself, although both work closely <br />with each other. In addition to funding a pension plan, some relief associations hold fundraisers to help <br />financially support the fire department by purchasing needed equipment from fundraising proceeds. <br />Each relief association has its own bylaws and mission. Pension plans, net assets, rules for receiving <br />pensions and requirements for being part of the relief association vary greatly between each <br />organization. Due to these differences, firefighters have expressed concerns that if the relief <br />association's combine their pension benefits will decrease or the new association rules will change <br />somehow that would affect their pension dollars. <br />6 <br />