MONROE — Considering potential increases in costs for fire protection services, Rural Fire District representatives from the Towns of Monroe and Clarno, along with representatives from other municipalities, attended an informational meeting Feb. 18.
While the meeting was open to the public and representatives from the City of Monroe were in attendance, no official from Monroe was formally invited to speak. The meeting displays a divide between some town representatives of the RFD and representatives of the City of Monroe.
The Monroe Fire Department provides fire protection coverage for the Towns of Monroe and Clarno. The agreement between the three municipalities is currently on a six-month extended contract that was approved at the end of 2019.
The extension was needed because negotiations on a new five-year contract that would change the fire protection fee structure for the towns failed.
The City of Monroe has approved a new fire protection coverage agreement based on equalized property value. City of Monroe residents pay local taxes for fire protection based on property value. In the most-recently approved agreement between the city and the towns in the RFD in 2014, the towns split a fee paid to the department.
The city has forwarded a new agreement to the RFD that bases fire protection fees ultimately on equalized property value for all property owners. The RFD hasn’t necessarily turned that agreement down, but it has made a counter offer. Monroe Town Chairman Todd Hasse said that offer was to have the rural fire district pay a combination of fees and money based on fire calls responded to in the municipalities. Hasse is a member of the RFD board and a firefighter in the Monroe Fire Department.
Hasse said prior to 2014, the towns split annual fees totaling $41,600 ($20,800 each). In 2014, a new five-year agreement was reached between the city and the RFD, with the towns splitting annual fees totaling $83,200 ($41,600 each). The towns also provided equipment, such as two tenders and a brush truck to the fire department.
Hasse said the increase in 2014 was difficult for the municipalities to add to their budgets under financial constraints such as the Wisconsin state budget cap.
In the city’s most recent proposal, the amounts the towns pay would incrementally increase over a five-year period until they reach equal footing using property value as the standard for taxpayers. The towns would begin by paying an amount close to the current fee, which would increase each year until 2024 when the Town of Monroe would pay approximately $77,000 and the Town of Clarno would pay approximately $64,900. The City of Monroe, under the same plan, would pay $493,535 in the fifth year of the agreement to fund the fire department.
“Over time we’ve had major increases,” Haase said. “We want to work through these issues with the city. After the city rejected our counter-offer and we’re now on a second extended contract, we thought it was important to look at our options.”
Hasse said the Feb. 18 meeting was about seeking those options and included contracting with other fire departments or creating an entirely new fire department to cover the towns.
Thirty people attended the meeting. The City of Monroe had Mayor Louis Armstrong, City Attorney Dan Bartholf, Fire Chief Dan Smits, and Aldermen Michael Boyce and Richard Thoman in the audience. City of Monroe officials, however, were not “invited” to participate and thus couldn’t speak freely at the meeting. Boyce was the only city official to speak after raising his hand and being recognized. Boyce said he reiterated the city’s pending agreement and the city brought copies of information for all in attendance.
After the meeting, Boyce there should have been an invitation from the RFD for a city official to participate.
“For the city it was just a huge sign of disrespect,” Boyce said. “Our goal is to increase public safety capacity by working for city residents and the residents of our partner municipalities … It was clear to me that this meeting was about creating a new fire district and fire department separate from the City of Monroe.”
Boyce said the conversation touched on the size of fire districts, the number of available trained firefighters, interim coverage should a new fire department be created, insurance, the costs to build a new fire house, firefighter wages, capital expenses and where a new fire house should be located.
“It was all about creation of a new fire department excluding the City of Monroe,” Boyce said.
Boyce said the proposal the City of Monroe has offered the towns is much more efficient than the creation of a new fire district.
“The city has behaved admirably, responsibly and in the spirit of cooperation,” Boyce said. “All the city is saying is we want to amend the agreement so people pay their fair share.”
Boyce said part of the conflict is a continuation of internal unrest in the Monroe Fire Department. A city investigation was conducted into the department in 2019 regarding disagreements between department leaders and members. Many firefighters found the results of the investigation to be unsatisfactory and ultimately the matter was handled by an ad hoc committee. The committee late last year suggested several remedies to repair relationships inside the fire department.
Mayor Armstrong said he hopes that conflict isn’t creating a delay in dialogue between the city and towns for a new fire protection agreement.
“It would have been nice to be invited to participate (at the Feb. 18 meeting), but I don’t really think it was necessary if they were just gathering information,” Armstrong said. “Basically, they’ve gotten our offer and we’re trying to be more fair across the board for everyone. They’re not happy with the concept … Cost is a big thing.”
Armstrong said that he’s open to meeting with town or RFD representatives again if that would forward the process.
“I think one of the big things that came out of this is that (the towns) gained information that if they’re going to start their own fire department it’s going to cost millions and millions of dollars … plus take a great deal of time to plan,” Armstrong said. “I hope our offer looks better after they’ve considered that.”
Hasse said a pressing matter for the RFD is for the City of Monroe to set another meeting “and we can come up with a consensus to reach an agreement.”
Hasse said if the towns don’t have an agreement in place by mid-March, they may have to look at other options for fire protection services.
Rural Fire District Chair Tracey Singer said the public meeting was a way to “gather information for both town boards” as they consider the potential change in the cost structure for fire protection.
“We’re just doing research,” Singer said. “A lot of people are reading more into this than it is … Anyone under the impression that we’re going to break off and do our own thing — we’re far, far from that.”
Singer said the Feb. 18 meeting was important for the towns so they’re on a better footing to bargain with the City of Monroe.
“There isn’t much of a story there yet,” Singer said.
As of Feb. 19, the RFD didn’t have another similar meeting scheduled, Singer said.