Funding tagged for fire district

By Abbe Smith, Register Staff 08/01/2008

WEST HAVEN — After taking a hit from the loss of tax revenue with Bayer HealthCare leaving town, the West Shore Fire District made a deal with the city this week, securing a portion of Yale University’s voluntary payments.

Speaking on behalf of the fire district at this week’s City Council meeting, West Shore Assistant Fire Chief David Collins praised the agreement.

“Because of less tax dollars to the city and the West Shore Fire District (from the loss of Bayer), this agreement allows West Shore to recoup some of the losses that we’ve taken,” he said.

The agreement establishes an equation for determining the amount of money the fire district will receive depending on how much money the city receives from Yale. According to a June 2007 letter from Bruce Alexander, Yale’s vice president for New Haven and state affairs, the university will make a payment of either $250 per full-time employee on the new site or $600,000, whichever is larger. The payment, which will be adjusted annually for inflation, will be shared by West Haven and Orange because the new site straddles the border, with a vast majority of the space located in West Haven.

The first voluntary payment from Yale will be made this fall. Both towns also are eligible for the state’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes program.

According to this year’s tax rates, West Shore is eligible to receive about 17 percent of Yale’s voluntary payment. Using West Haven’s portion of the $600,000 payment, Mayor John M. Picard estimated the fire district could receive about $80,000. The district also would receive a portion of the state’s PILOT funding.

“That’s the right thing to do. We are treating the voluntarily contribution as a tax payment,” Picard said of the agreement. He noted that the fire district does not get a portion of other Yale donations specifically to the city, including a recent gift of $50,000 to the school district’s “Take a Seat” program.

Taxpayers in the West Shore district this year approved a budget with no tax increase, in defiance of warnings from Collins and other fire officials that the department will be in dire financial straits as a result.

On Thursday, Collins said four firefighters with a more than 100 years of service combined have retired since April. That includes Deputy Fire Chief Clifford T. Burns, one lieutenant and two firefighters. Collins said there are two more definite retirements coming this year and there is a possibility of more to come.

“We lost a lot of experienced guys. It’s unfortunate,” he said. “The experience factor is a big deal because the people that replace them come directly from school and just don’t have the experience.”

The department has hired five new firefighters within the past year and has one recruit at the New Haven Regional Fire Academy right now. Collins said the department is accepting applications for entry-level firefighters. There are two vacancies and more are expected.

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