Albion Joint Fire District doubles budget for fire department

$300,000 set aside towards new fire truck, fire hall repair or replacement

Photo by Tom Rivers: Members of the newly formed Albion Joint Fire District met on Thursday at Hoag Library to discuss fire district business, including an upcoming election on Dec. 10 for five commissioners and the treasurer. Pictured from left include commissioner Craig Lane, secretary Rachel Hicks, commissioner Chris Kinter, commissioner and chairman Al Cheverie, commissioner Joe Martillotta, commissioner Dave Buczek, and treasurer Victoria Tabor.

ALBION – The Albion Joint Fire District has a budget for 2025, the first year for the entity which will oversee fire protection in the towns of Albion and Gaines, which includes the Village of Albion.

The budget approved by the commissioners totals $872,222, which more than doubles the budget for the fire department when it was under the village budget with contracts from the two towns.

Fire department leaders say the department has long been underfunded, with no reserves for new fire trucks or upgrades to the fire hall.

The new budget for 2025 puts $250,000 into a “Apparatus Repair & Replacement Reserve” and $50,000 into a “Building Repair & Replacement Reserve.”

Al Cheverie, the chairman of the commissioners, said the district needs to replace two fire trucks fairly soon. A new ladder truck to replace one that is 27 years old is expected to cost $2.2 million. A new fire engine to replace one 32 years old would likely have a purchase price of $1.1 million.

The commissioners expect to start working on securing a new ladder truck in 2025, a process that could take four to five years before the new truck is in Albion. Setting aside money ahead of time will reduce the bond payments needed in the future, Cheverie said.

A $2.2 million bond at a 7 percent rate would result in an annual bond payment of about $208,000 a year over 20 years, fire department officials said in June when discussing the budget needs for the department.

A new fire engine at $1.1 million and bonded over 20 years would have an annual payment of $104,000 a year. However, those payments would be significantly less if the fire district has money in its reserves.

The district also has $50,000 set aside for the fire hall for either repairs or a potential replacement. Cheverie said there are no plans to leave the building on Platt Street anytime soon.

Some of the fire department’s expenses were previously absorbed in the village budget and now those costs are clearly defined in the fire district budget plan. That includes $17,000 in utilities and $100,000 for insurance.

Cheverie said the first-year budget for the district includes $70,000 in startup expenses for the district that won’t be a reoccurring expense.

The budget includes $15,000 to pay a treasurer and $15,000 for a secretary, plus $10,400 for janitorial services. With Social Security, Medicare and unemployment added, the three positions will total $47,647 in the budget, and those were costs that weren’t factored into the fire department budget when it was part of the village.

The budget categories include $47,647 for personnel services; $17,000 for contractual service (utilities); $100,000 for insurance; $38,950 for operational expenses; $42,500 for apparatus maintenance; $104,715 for equipment expenses (gear for firefighters and trucks); $61,000 for buildings and grounds maintenance; $160,410 for administrative expenses (fire district formation costs, accountant, attorney, medical exams, recruitment efforts); and $300,000 for the new reserve funds.

Craig Lane, one of the five commissioners, said the district budget initially was $1.3 million and the commissioners pared down some of those costs.

Dave Buczek, one of the commissioners, said the budget puts the fire department on a course for a good future for equipment and recruitment.

“We’re building something for generations to come,” Buczek said at Thursday’s meeting.

Commissioners, treasurer up for election on Dec. 10

The five commissioners started meeting on Aug. 20. Voters in the towns of Albion and Gaines approved forming the Albion Joint Fire District in an Aug. 6 referendum. Albion voted 125 yes, 61 no, while the results in Gaines were 70 yes, 43 no.

Five commissioners were then appointed to help establish the district, and create the budget for the first year in 2025. The Albion Town Board appointed Chris Kinter, the code enforcement officer, and Joe Martillotta, a retired school teacher and business owner. Gaines appointed Al Cheverie, a former Albion Fire Department president, and Craig Lane, the deputy highway superintendent for Orleans County. The Village Board appointed Dave Buczek, a former village trustee, to be the village representative.

Voters will soon pick the commissioners with new terms starting in 2025. There will be an election at Hoag Library on Dec. 10 from 4 to 9 p.m. Candidates for the election can submit a letter to the Albion Joint Fire District, P.O. Box 2, Albion NY 14411. The letter should state the candidate’s desire to run for commissioner. It needs to be received by Nov. 20. The treasurer’s position also will be up for election.

The commissioners’ terms will be for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, depending on the vote totals for each. The highest vote-getter gets the 5-year term and then the term length goes in descending order of votes. After the December election, the commissioner election should have one position up for election each year.