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Council, fire company consider letting county funding formula replace town's unrestricted grant; MOU proposed to simplify annual agreement
Summary
Councilors and fire-company leaders discussed asking the county to apply its funding formula in lieu of the town's annual unrestricted grant and recommended a simplified one-page MOU in the short term to clarify budgeted grant amounts and payment timing.
Council and Berlin Fire Company representatives discussed two related options for stabilizing operating funding: (1) ask the county to apply its existing funding formula directly to the fire company instead of the town issuing an annual unrestricted grant and (2) prepare a simplified memorandum (one-page MOU) or short contract that documents the town's approved budget amount and payment schedule.
Speaker 1 framed the county-option as exploratory: the town could "forego our unrestricted grant" and let county reporting and the county's formula determine the funding allocation, but council and fire-company participants warned that formula-driven county distributions may not produce the same outcome for Berlin without negotiation. Speaker 3 said the idea is a potential parallel path and requires further conversation with county commissioners.
Separately, staff and the fire company agreed to draft a short, one-page document to record the town's budget decision and payment mechanics while referencing a fuller MOA for operational details. "You'll have a one-page document: here's what the town approved in their budget. Here's how it's gonna get paid," said Speaker 2. The group did not finalize a decision; staff will follow up with a draft MOU and a letter or conversation with the county if the council wishes to pursue the county-formula route.
