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Dept. of State Helps Local Fire Companies Consolidate
Two Capital Region fire districts are using a $20,000 grant from the Department of State to consolidate services. CBS6 in Albany reports.
Transcript:
Local Fire Companies Consolidate
CBS6 Albany (WRGB-TV)
The Wynantskill and Defreestville Fire Companies took advantage of a $20,000 grant from the Department of State and worked out a deal to consolidate services.
Ken Screven reports.
Anchor: Municipalities and fire companies have been talking about it for years, but it rarely happens. We are talking about merging and consolidating resources to save taxpayer money. But two local fire companies took advantage of a $20,000 grant from the Department of State and did work out a deal to consolidate.
Albany News Chief Ken Screven: As of January 1, Wynantskill Fire Company in Rensselaer County will be working alongside the neighboring DeFreestville Fire Company in a money-saving consolidation that will put both companies under the umbrella of the North Greenbush Fire District No. 1. It is a consolidation that was more than 20 years in the making.
Wynantskill Fire Department Spokesperson: Budgets are getting tighter every year now. Finances around fire companies, fire districts are getting harder and harder. At this particular point, it just kind of came together and clicked.
DeFreestville Fire Department Spokesperson: On the face of it, nothing will change.
Dan Garab, North Greenbush Fire District No. 1: For taxpayers, it’s going to mean a savings.
Screven: So what does this mean for the taxpayers here? The merger means that Wynantskill taxpayers will pay just pennies more, $2.72 per $1,000, while DeFreestville will see a big drop from $4.22 to $2.77 per $1,000, an average savings of about $150 per household.
Garab: Their fire protection tax should go down by about 40 percent. It is a win-win for both fire departments, win-win for fire districts and, more importantly, it’s a win-win for the residents of the towns.
Screven (on camera): In the past fire companies have chosen not to consolidate because they did want to give up any control, and to be perfectly frank, they had lot of ego involved. This is the first consolidation of a fire company in the state using a Department of State grant. But now we are told, there 15 more fire companies around the state who are considering doing the same thing.
Screven: The consolidation will mean savings when it comes time to buy million dollar vehicles like theses, as well as things like uniforms. The merger could become a beacon for many fire departments.
DeFreestville Fire Department Spokesperson: Clearly, they should look at it. When they have seen what we have done, they should take a good hard look at it.