MONROE — In its endeavor to establish a positive relationship with surrounding townships, the Finance and Taxation Committee discussed costs for a fire response agreement with representatives of Clarno and the Town of Monroe at a meeting March 25 which may call for a small bump in taxes for residents.
Committee Chair Michael Boyce said the goal was to “explore a solution” before municipalities begin seriously evaluating upcoming budgets in late summer and finalize numbers in October.
“We know that we need the townships and the townships need us,” Boyce said.
The Rural Fire District sets up cost-sharing among member municipalities. The district had previously included Sylvester Township, but the municipality did not rejoin the RFD when the other townships signed the one-year agreement. Sylvester now depends on fire response from entities farther away, like Juda Fire Department. Though Smits has said MFD responds to emergencies in the area despite being unable to bill the township for services given since the area is not under the department’s jurisdiction. Township officials have said in the past that they preferred they be charged a fee per each response rather than a flat annual cost. None of the three elected officials on Sylvester Town Board were able to attend the meeting due to conflicting schedules, per an email from Sylvester Town Chair Anna Anderson to Mayor Louis Armstrong.
On Dec. 17, a one-year agreement was approved by the city. At the time, Monroe Fire Chief Dan Smits had organized meetings with representatives of the townships to discuss the contract. City Administrator Phil Rath had said it was to allow a cushion of time for the townships and the city to come to an agreement in 2019.
At the meeting attended by representatives of Clarno and the Town of Monroe, numbers were considered. Part of the negotiations on the city’s part was to evaluate expenses for each of the entities if they were to rejoin an agreement with Monroe. City staff identified the costs of running the fire department and divided operating expenses to assess a “readiness fee,” which results from a fixed operating cost, plus annual replacement capital expenses.
The fee was compared to equalized values of participating RFD members. Without Sylvester included, the shared cost for Clarno exceeds $65,000, but as part of the 2019 fire service agreement, the township would pay just over $42,000. To address the $23,000 shortfall, the city noted that an annual tax increase of $24 per $100,000 home value would be needed in Clarno.
Based on equalized value in Monroe Township, its share of expenses results in nearly $77,000. However, it pays the same amount as Clarno per the most recent fire agreement. To address the more than $34,000 shortfall, the town would require an increased annual tax of $30 per $100,000 home.
If Sylvester Township were to receive services from MFD one more, its share of expenses would be just under $70,000.
With Sylvester rejoined, the burden of costs would be reduced for the involved townships. Clarno would drop to a shortfall of slightly more than $16,000, making the needed tax increase $17. In the Town of Monroe, the burden of cost would be reduced to just over $68,000, dropping the tax increase to $23 per $100,000 home value.
Smits said during the meeting that he has spoken to residents who are unable to receive home insurance because the MFD does not cover their area, which has caused concerns for property owners. He added that, similar to other states, Wisconsin has started to see a downward trend in fire protection personnel.
Monroe Town Board Chair Todd Hasse addressed committee members, noting that in recent talks with Smits matters regarding the RFD arrangement had been more fully clarified. He said it makes sense for the towns to work with the city and “definitely” wants businesses and residents to have insurance coverage for their buildings. His main concern was over the fees associated with firefighting calls. He said the township would prefer costs more accurately reflective of services accrued rather than just a flat annual rate regardless of how many calls are actually made to respond to the township. He added that he also wanted to see an agreement completed before the budget season and was appreciative of the effort to assess costs early in the year.
Committee member Chris Beer, who is stepping down from Monroe Common Council, encouraged forward movement on the issue. No formal action was taken after the discussion. The city plans to continue meetings with township officials and RFD representatives to establish a more long-term agreement.