The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section lists some of the most common questions I get asked. If you have a question that is not listed here, simply email it to me.

 
  Questions
  1. Why are you running for Fire Commissioner?
  2. I'm confused about how fire districts are broken down - how can they span two towns?
  3. If I live in the Town of Greenfield, why do I pay taxes to cover fire protection for the Town of Wilton?
  4. What are the duties of a commissioner?
  5. So if I pay fire tax and you guys are volunteer, what is that money used to buy?
  6. If you are so busy, how come you don't have a paid department?
  7. If the fire department runs ems (emergency medical service) along with the Wilton Ambulance Corp and Saratoga Emergency Medical Services, am I getting double taxed?
  8. I think taxes are too high - I dont' understand why you need all that money.
  9. Can I donate to your campaign?
  10. Who can vote in the election?
  11. If you are a fire department, why do you show up at my door when I call the ambulance?
  12. I heard that the district representation is broken down per fire company - if that's true, and there are four fire companies, what does the fifth commissioner represent?
  13. In your vision section, you discuss improving the "district infrastructure," that sounds like its going to raise taxes.
  14. If you initiate a pension program, won't that raise taxes?
  15. Why is the voting for Fire Commissioner only at the Maple Avenue Fire Station and not the other stations as well?


Answers
  1. Why are you running for Fire Commissioner?
    I just recently     graduated from college and now that I have a little more free time on my hands, I want to donate even more to this district. The best way for me to give back to the district would be as a commissioner. I believe that my education, professional experience and almost nine years of firefighting experience make me an ideal candidate. I believe that as an active firefighter with Maple Avenue I can bring a unique perspective to the Board as a commissioner.

  2. I'm confused about how fire districts are broken down - how can they span two towns?
    You can picture a fire district as being its own governmental entity that is entirely separate from a town boundry. Let me first describe the two different fire companies that exist in Saratoga County - Fire Protection districts and Fire Districts. A "Fire Protection District" is a district where a fire company is contracted by a village or town board to provide fire protection service to their community. Each year the fire company must negotiate with the local government for their contract and ultimately their annual budget. A "Fire District" in constrast to a "Fire Protection District" is a district where the Board of Fire Commissioners is in charge of setting the tax rate to collect monies for the purpose of fire protection. Basically the difference is that in a fire protection district, the town/village board is in charge of taxes where as in a fire district, the board of fire commissioners is in charge of the tax rate.

    Fire districts have their own boundries which may or may not correspond to town boundries. Any one who lives in a fire district's boundry, pays the fire tax deemed necessary by the Board of Fire Commissioners.

  3. If I live in the Town of Greenfield, why do I pay taxes to cover fire protection for the Town of Wilton?
    Essentially it doesn't matter where you live, that is, what township you reside in - you still reside in the Greenfield Fire District. The     Greenfield Fire District just happens to cross two towns. So you aren't paying taxes to cover your town or the other town, you are paying taxes to cover the cost of fire protection in the Greenfield Fire District. View #2 for more information.

  4. What are the duties of a commissioner?
    Visit the     Duties of a Commissioner section.

  5. So if I pay fire tax and you guys are volunteer, what is that money used to buy?
    The fire tax of the     Greenfield Fire District is used primarily to purchase equipment and tools for the volunteers to provide fire protection for the residents of the district. Just because there is an absence of labor costs, it doesn't mean that there isn't a cost associated with running a fire district. This mistake is usually due to a lack of understanding of the (a) the costs associated with large commercial buildings, and (b) the costs associated with modern fire trucks.

    The district recently completed the last of four new fire stations, the new Greenfield Center Fire Department station. The real estate in this area is relatively expensive, the four fire stations alone cost around two million total. A typical fire truck can cost upward of $370,000, not including tools and equipment. The district itself has seventeen pieces of fire apparatus.

    When you begin to tally the cost of equipment and the various other expenses of running the district (electricty, gasoline, heating fuel, etc.), the overall cost of running a fire district of this magnitude becomes fairly large. See #8 for more information.

  6. If you are so busy, how come you don't have a paid department?
    One word taxes. This is of course my own opinion, but the bottom line is that the tax increase to institute a fulltime firefighter staff probably wouldn't be seemed as necessary by the residents of the Greenfield Fire District. I do see a time in the future where we won't have a choice should the growth remain constant.

    Right now we have a district full of highly skilled and dedicated volunteers who have given and continue to give countless hours to answer the call. The community is indeed fortunate to have them as residents.

  7. If the fire department runs ems (emergency medical service) along with the Wilton Ambulance Corp and Saratoga Emergency Medical Services, am I getting double taxed?
    No - you are not getting double taxed. Let me first describe what the current ems program of the district is. The very small portion of the ems budget of the     Greenfield Fire District is used to pay for the first responder service. The role of the fire department in emergency medical service is to act as a first responder, the agency that is ideally supposed to get to the scene first, stabilize the patient, so that the patient is ready for transport once the ambulance arrives. Additionally, the fire department works along side with the ambulance agencies performing basic life support. Firefighting is a risky business, so having our firefighters trained as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) presents many benefits.

    So that is what the small portion from the fire budget is actually used for. The money that you pay for as an ambulance tax is typically used to pay for the ambulance service - the basic life support and transportation service. Wilton Ambulance also direct bills a patient's medical insurance for any Advanced Life Service that is provided for them. This additional cost is what is used to pay for their fulltime paramedic service.

    The Saratoga Emergency Medical Services (SEMS) agency is contracted by the Town of Greenfield to provide ambulance service to the vast majority of the Town of Greenfield. I believe that the ambulance tax in the Town of Greenfield is part of the property tax.

  8. I think taxes are too high - I dont' understand why you need all that money.
    The     Greenfield Fire District is the largest district in Saratoga County. It is also the most active volunteer district in terms of the number of calls it runs. As such, the equipment repair and maintenance costs will be higher when compared to other districts.

    You should also note that the Greenfield Fire District (based off of 2004 data) does not have the highest budget in the county. The Jonesville Fire Department has the highest budget in the county for volunteer agencies. Note that the Greenfield Fire District also has four stations compared to most other districts in the county, who typically have one or two. This district runs four stations with a smaller budget. I point this out for two reasons: (1) it helps put our budget in perspective, and (2) to point out the efficiency at which the Board of Fire Commissioners has run this district over the years.

    I think you'll find that the Board has done a very good job at budgeting and spending to keep the tax rate as low as it is. Also note the very large (and increasing) costs of firefighting equipment (see #4). A fire truck can run in the neighborhood of $370,000 - and that's not considering tools to equip that truck. Aerial devices, such as EL-293 can cost in the neighborhood of $1,000,000. There are many other examples of large equipment purchases. This year for example, the district purchased new airpacks for all four companies. These fifty packs costs approximately $150,000. Usually people make assumptions about the district's tax rate before understanding the costs associated with running a fire district, let alone running a fire district of this magnitute. I believe that all things considered, the tax rate is very appropriate.

  9. Can I donate to your campaign?
    While it pleases me to know that people are very supportive of my campaign, I am not accepting monetary donatiions at this time. If you wish to show your support through this campaign I would be honored if you would place a     campaign sign in your yard. Just send me an email and we can set up a time to meet up.

  10. Who can vote in the election?
    Article II, Section 175, clause 2 of the New York State Town Law dictates the following:
      Every elector of the town who shall be a registered voter and who shall have resided in the district for the period of thirty days next preceding any election of fire district officers shall be qualified to vote for such officers. Every elector of the town who shall be a registered voter and who shall have resided in the fire district for the period of thirty days next preceding any election at which a proposition shall be submitted, shall be qualified to vote upon such proposition.  
    So to state it another way, you are eligible to vote for Fire Commissioner if (1) you are a registered voter and (2) you are a Greenfield Fire District resident for longer than thirty days prior to the December election.

  11. If you are a fire department, why do you show up at my door when I call the ambulance?
    The     Greenfield Fire District provides EMS (Emergency Medical Service) to the residents of the district. This EMS service is Basic Life Support (BLS) to the community. Three companies run EMS: Greenfield Center, Middle Grove and Maple Avenue. Porter Corners district is covered by Greenfield Center. Our role is to provide first response treatment for the patient, stabilizing the patient whenever possible so that the patient is ready for transport once the patient arrives. If the ambulance arrives before we do, or at the same time, then we simply assist the ambulance crew with patient care.

    Our EMS program also allows us to provide a better level of care to patients involved in motor vehicle accidents.

    Even though we are a fire department, we also provide many other services to the community.

  12. I heard that the district representation is broken down per fire company - if that's true, and there are four fire companies, what does the fifth commissioner represent?
    New York State law does not specifically dictate how the individual representation is broken down for a multi-fire company department - which the Greenfield Fire District is. That is to say, that the district is composed of more than one fire company - in our case four: Greenfield Center, Porter Corners, Middle Grove and Maple Avenue.

    Since state law does not formally dictate how the representation is to be broken down, a "gentlemen's agreement" was made back when the district was formed back in 1947 between the firefighters. The agreement was that there would be one commissioner from each company and the fifth commissioner would represent the Town of Wilton's interest in the Greenfield Fire District. This is actually the "position" that I am running for - which was previously held by Ken Merchant. The agreement has held constant since the district's inception - so the voters should take that into consideration when voting this election.

  13. In your vision section, you discuss improving the "district infrastructure," that sounds expensive - like its going to raise taxes.
    Having a state-of-the-art computer system with the current budget is not an issue. In fact, if you were to take a look from the time that the system could save this district, it could potentially save the tax payers money. I state in the vision section that a "[computer system] would enable a more accurate and robust inventory record," which translates into a decrease in waste. Whenever you can decrease wasteful spending, you obviously save money.

  14. If you initiate a pension program, won't that raise taxes?
    The answer is that I really don't know - because I haven't investigated it thoroughly enough to get down to the exact amount of money the program takes to initiate. I do know that many neighboring district (the majority in the county) have the plan - so it certaintly can't be a significant amount (if any). I do know that one of the factors that determines the amount it takes to start the program is the age of all your members, and their start dates in the district - as they both determine when they will collect the pension. Since I am not a commissioner yet, I do not have that information readily available.

    Note that as part of the pension plan - it is required for it to go out for a public vote - just like voting to increase the school budget. So the taxpayer do have the opportunity to vote this down - should they deem it necessary to do so. In speaking with many tax payers throughout this campaign, the majority do not consider this to be a problem compared to the benefit it gives to the firefighters.

  15. Why is the voting for Fire Commissioner only at the Maple Avenue Fire Station and not the other stations as well?
    The     Board of Commissioners is composed of five commissioners which as a "gentlemen's agreement" is divided up amongst the four stations - to ensure that there is a fair distribution of representation amongst the district.

    So basically each station gets one commissioner and the fifth commissioner is reserved to represent the Town of Wilton's interest in the Greenfield Fire District.

    Since the commissioner's term is five years, each year, one of the commissioner's is up for reelection. The district decided that whichever stations's commissioner is up for election, the voting would be done at that firehouse. Since I am running for the Town of Wilton's seat on the board, this year's elections are being held at the Maple Avenue Fire Department.