The Board of Fire Commissioners hold their meetings on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:30 p.m. The meetings are held at the Washington Township Fire District Headquarters building located at 213 E. Holly Ave. Sewell, NJ
COMMISSION WORK SESSION
Next meeting is Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 7:30pm at the District Headquarters Auditorium
Commission Agenda
1. R & R Safer Grant Request
2. Minimum Standards For Firefighters
3. Duty Crew Meal Policy Resolution 9-2012
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A CLOSED SESSION OF THE WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS FOR UNION CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE.
The Washington Township Board of Fire Commissioners welcomes the Public to come speak at our meeting during the Public portion of the meeting.
Organization, Structure, and Operation of the Fire District
On August 23, 1972 the governing body of Washington Township adopted and ordinance that created the Washington Township Fire District No. 1. The territorial jurisdiction of the Fire District encompasses the entire Township of Washington.
The Fire District’s organizational chart appears below. The Board of Fire Commissioners oversees all aspects of the Fire District with District Fire Chief in charge of daily operations. The Fire District also employs a Business Administrator who is in charge of financial management. The Bureau of Fire Prevention is responsible for fire prevention education, fire investigation, and code enforcement. The Maintenance Division duties include the repair, testing, and preventative maintenance of all fire district owned vehicles and equipment.
The fire district’s three volunteer fire companies; Grenloch, Whitman Square, and Hurffville, supported by the career staff, are primarily responsible for the fire and rescue operations in the township. All active members of these fire companies are volunteer, including their respective company fire chiefs. They supply the necessary manpower at the scene of a fire or other emergency. The career staff is normally assigned to cover the fire service needs of Washington Township between the hours of 6:00 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday. This is the time period when most volunteer firefighters are unavailable to serve due to their regular full-time jobs.
Board of Fire Commissioners
All Fire Districts in the State of New Jersey are governed by statue. Fire District Statues are generally located in N.J.S.A. 40A:14-70 et seq. These statutes give fire districts taxing authority, regulate when and how fire district elections are to be conducted, and regulate their fiscal responsibilities, among other things. The Board of Fire Commissioners serves as the Fire Districts governing body and manages all operations. The length of a Fire Commissioner’s term is three years, and commissioners, as well as approval of the proposed annual budget, is conducted on the third Saturday in February, as mandated by New Jersey Statutes.
The current Fire Commissioners are:
Sam Micklus- Chairman of the Board
Mike Vinci- Vice-chairman
Frank Stella - Secretary
Larry Kennie - Treasurer
Edwin Etschman
YOUR FIRE DISTRICT TAX DOLLARS
The following table
will show your local property tax breakdown for the last eight years. The
accompanying graph shows the property tax breakdown for 2011. The fire district
tax continues to decline as a percentage of your total property taxes. Note
that over the 7 years shown in the graph, the fire district tax has had the
lowest percentage increase of all property taxes. The Fire District Tax for 2012 will be $0.206.
|
Tax
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
|
Local Tax
|
$0.788
|
$0.836
|
$0.836
|
$0.836
|
$0.946
|
$0.961
|
$1.041
|
$1.052
|
|
County Taxes
|
$0.816
|
$0.949
|
$0.994
|
$1.039
|
$1.099
|
$1.136
|
$1.129
|
$1.092
|
|
School Tax
|
$2.151
|
$2.210
|
$2.356
|
$2.507
|
$2.681
|
$2.786
|
$2.925
|
$2.976
|
|
Fire District Tax
|
$0.156
|
$0.156
|
$0.165
|
$0.182
|
$0.196
|
$0.195
|
$0.196
|
$0.192
|
|
Total Tax
|
$3.911
|
$4.151
|
$4.351
|
$4.564
|
$4.922
|
$5.078
|
$5.291
|
$5.312
|
|
% Fire District Tax
|
3.988%
|
3.758%
|
3.792%
|
3.987%
|
3.982%
|
3.840%
|
3.704%
|
3.614%
|
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP FIRE DISTRICT 2012 BUDGET
The budget for the Washington Township Fire District as
outlined below will raise the fire district tax rate by 1.4 cents. This will be
the first increase in the Fire District tax rate since 2008. The Fire District
tax rate for 2012 will be 20.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. A property
assessed at $200,000 would pay an additional $30.00 per year in Fire District
Tax.
Revenues:
|
Unreserved Fund Balance
|
$200,000
|
|
Miscellaneous Anticipated Revenues
|
$5,000
|
|
Supplemental Fire Service Act and Other Grants
|
$16,419
|
|
Uniform Fire Safety Act
|
$142,495
|
|
Amount to Be Raised By Taxation
|
$5,302,555
|
|
Total Anticipated
Revenues
|
$5,666,469
|
Operating
Appropriations:
|
Administration
|
|
|
Salary & Wages
|
$143,429
|
|
Fringe Benefits
|
$81,233
|
|
Other Expenses:
|
|
|
Elections
|
$2,050
|
|
Insurance
|
$30,371
|
|
Membership/Dues
|
$16,178
|
|
Office Expenses
|
$13,800
|
|
Professional Services
|
$101,400
|
|
Reimbursement for
Expenses/Losses
|
$2,000
|
|
Contingent Expenses
|
|
|
Total
Administration
|
$390,461
|
|
Cost of Operation & Maintenance
|
|
|
Salary & Wages
|
$1,370,064
|
|
Fringe Benefits
|
$937,945
|
|
Other Expenses
|
|
|
Advertising
|
$10,500
|
|
Insurance
|
$66,043
|
|
Maintenance & Repairs
|
$350,710
|
|
Professional Services
|
$62,840
|
|
Rental Charges
|
$68,795
|
|
Supplies Expenses
|
$15,000
|
|
Training & Education
|
$105,000
|
|
Uniforms/Turnout Gear
|
$101,610
|
|
Utilities
|
$282,949
|
|
Fire Hydrant Rental
|
$91,728
|
|
Supplemental Fire Service
Grant
|
$18,061
|
|
Other Assets -
Non-Bondable
|
$208,655
|
|
Contingent Expenses
|
$9,000
|
|
Total Cost of
Operation & Maintenance
|
$3,698,900
|
Length of
Service Awards Program
|
Length of Service Awards Program
|
$285,400
|
|
Total Length of
Service Awards Program
|
$285,400
|
Operating
Appropriations Offset With Revenues
|
Uniform Fire Safety Act
|
|
|
Salary & Wages
|
$169,342
|
|
Fringe Benefits
|
$131,374
|
|
Other Expenses
|
|
|
Supplies
|
$2000
|
|
Educational Material
|
$19,500
|
|
Uniforms
|
$4,800
|
|
Training
|
$3,000
|
|
Maintenance
|
$4,500
|
|
Dues/Subscriptions
|
$3,200
|
|
Fire Investigation Supplies
|
$1,000
|
|
Other Assets - Non-Bondable
|
$1,000
|
|
Total
Appropriations Offset With Revenues
|
$339,716
|
Debt Service
For Capital Appropriations
|
Principal Payments
|
|
|
General Obligation Bonds
|
$680,000
|
|
Capital Leases
|
$88,484
|
|
Total Principal
Payments
|
$768,484
|
|
Interest Payments
|
|
|
General Obligation Bonds
|
$167,565
|
|
Capital Leases
|
$15,944
|
|
Total Interest
Payments
|
$183,509
|
|
Total Debt
Service Appropriations
|
$951,993
|
|
|
|
|
Total Budgeted
Appropriations
|
$5,666,469
|
Any questions concerning items in this report should be
directed to the District Fire Chief, John Hoffman, at 863-4000 between the hours
of 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The Board of Fire Commissioners holds a public
meeting at 7:30 PM on the first Thursday of every month at the fire district
office 630 East Holly Avenue. The Fire District mailing address is PO Box 653,
Turnersville, NJ 08012.
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