Volunteer Incentive Committee
Meeting minutes – Jan 21, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:07 pm by chairman Ron Masters. Present were Marie De Sousa,Gil Hayes, Mike Balf, Cal Meyers, Jim Barton Dave Lockwood and Ron Masters. Absent was Dan Schnobrich.
The minutes of the Dec 10, 2007 meeting were reviewed. A motion to accept was made by Gil Hayes and seconded by Jim Barton. The motion carried.
By a voice vote Ron Masters was elected chair for the coming year. Gil Hayes volunteered to be vice-chair.
The two departments presented data covering expenditures for the Oct. Nov. Dec. time period. Broad Brook expenditures were $20,105. Warehouse Point expenditures were$18,690.Chief Barton noted that this figure did not include officers pay for the period. This total is below the quarterly allocation and therefore expenditures continue to be below the budget for the Incentive program.
Marie DeSousa advised the committee that the board of Finance will request that all expenditures in any fiscal year be paid out of the approved budget for that year. The committee explained that the Volunteer Incentive payout operates on a Mar.31 to Apr.1 cycle with the Apr. May. Jun. expenditures being paid out of the next year’s budget. Marie will provide this information to the Board of Finance.
The committee discussed proposed changes to the incentive program and how these changes would impact the budget for the next fiscal year. The chiefs noted that there have been no changes in their program since 2004 and it is increasingly difficult to recruit and hold members. The following enhancements to the program were discussed:
Increased pay per call
Property tax relief for firefighters
Lump sum payment in lieu of tax relief
After much discussion, the following changes to the program were proposed;
Increase the pay per call from $10 to $12
Increase the stipend paid to officers as follows:
Chief $700 to $1500
Asst. Chief $600 to $1200
Deputy Chief $500 to $1000
Captain $350 to $700
Lieutenant $250 to $500
It is expected that these changes will require a budget of $210,000 in the 08/09 fiscal year. A motion to request this amount was made by Gil Hayes and seconded by Mike Balf. The motion carried. The committee agreed to table pursuing property tax relief at this time. A letter requesting this budget will be prepared by the chairman and forwarded to the board of Selectmen for their consideration.
The next meeting was scheduled for Mar 10 at 7 pm at the broad brook Fire station. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 pm.
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