Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Local board hears alarm over volunteer fire-department losses, considers stipend and pay changes
Summary
Board members and department representatives described falling volunteer ranks and discussed outreach to high schools, temporarily increasing stipends and a longer-term shift to hourly pay to ease tax burdens on volunteers.
Committee member (Speaker 4) told the meeting the volunteer fire department is losing members and urged the board to consider new recruitment and compensation approaches, including outreach at the high school level. "So we're gonna try hitting up the school, try to do a program at the high school," Speaker 4 said, noting concern that younger recruits might be reluctant to volunteer.
Speaker 4 emphasized financial pressure on volunteers and suggested changing how the town compensates them: "Instead of doing the stipend, the stipend is killing people on their on their taxes every year. When they turn that in, they end up owing all kinds of money." Members discussed a future budget amendment to pay hourly wages rather than a one-time stipend, and Speaker 3 noted there is "some kind of special language for a stipend for volunteer department as far as taxes and so forth go" and that the town has researched the issue with the state board of accounts. The board did not adopt a policy at the meeting and directed staff to include the topic in upcoming evaluations.
