WEST HAVEN — The good news for West Shore district taxpayers is fire commissioners say they are committed to openness in communication and airing of problems.

The bad news is the most severe of those problems — a $30 million under-funded pension liability — just won’t seem to go away.

But fire commissioners are optimistic the district is headed in the right direction.

"In my mind, if this problem took about 40 years to create, I think we can probably solve it in about 10 years," Fire Commissioner John Biancur said.

The commissioners held a "state of the district" meeting last week that drew about 75 people.

Al Franke of the West Shore Taxpayers Association, said the meeting was a good start, but he still worries about the larger underlying problems.

"The presentation was very succinct and clear but there still is the issue of the infamous $30 million under-funded pension liability that no one has a clear solution for," he said.

Fire Commission Chairman Robert Pimer explained the $30 million under-funded pension refers to the total amount the district would owe if everyone in the West Shore Fire Department retired right now and needed to be paid out.

If you just count people in the department who are currently retired and the amount owed to them in the future, the under-funded liability drops to a still-burdensome $17 million.

Current commissioners contend the root of the under-funded pension goes back decades to some past commissions that did not fund the pension for various reasons. The district operates on a "pay as you go" basis for current pensions, but district leaders and watchdog groups say the department needs to prepare for the future.

"We are stuck with a bill somebody else created," Pimer said.

Biancur said the district needs to consider a hybrid of solutions, including the possibility of revenue growth from expanded economic development and good investment of pension funds. He also said the district needs to consider funding its pension plan more aggressively without overburdening taxpayers.

He said the current budget has no line item for the under-funded pension, but he hopes to include one in the budget for 2008-09.

Pimer said other indicators point to progress being made in the West Shore district.

Other business at the district meeting included:

  • The district took in almost $700,000 in grants for equipment, training and other tools and contributed about $180,000 in matching funds.
  • Salary increases for next fiscal year will cost about $110,000.
  • The department had 2,265 calls last year, including 1,308 medical calls, 73 vehicle accidents, 41 structure fires and 344 mutual aid calls.
  • Five firefighters joined the department in the past year and were the department’s first to come in under the state’s Municipal Employee Retirement Fund.

Abbe Smith can be reached at asmith@nhregister.com or 789-5615.