Coventry Fire District Tax Increase Approved by Voters

For the first time in five years, there will be a fire department tax increase imposed on residents and on industrial and commercial property owners to meet the budget requirements to maintain services for the operation of the Coventry Fire District, Anthony Station.

Several voters were allowed to ask questions and express opinions on the reasons for the increase at Tuesday night's meeting.

But in the 90-minute meeting held at Club Jogues, eventually all but one of 36 Coventry registered voters present approved all resolutions for a budget that amounted to a 10 percent tax increase overall.

The 13 resolutions were voted on as a package that “directed and empowered the Board of Directors to adopt a budget for the operation of the fire district for the ensuing 2011-2012 fiscal year in the amount for $2,530,976.”

The measures allowed “a tentative rate of 28 cents on each one hundred dollars of the ratable property of the Coventry Fire District” to be accessed on residential households. A special tax on industrial and other commercial properties will be imposed at a rate “not to exceed 53 cents per $100 of ratable property.”

Other measures passed included the continued leasing of the Aerial Ladder Truck for a yearly payment of over $68,000 for a sum not to exceed $535,000 for a period of 15 years; installation of additional hydrants as needed and for plats of five or more homes to require underground utilities, including wireless radio fire boxes; renewal of insurance on firefighters, as well as giving the Chief of the department the power to designate a "Fire Lane" in front of any building within the district as deemed necessary.

Fire Chief Paul Labbadia said the increased budget also helps pay for six new CFD employees hired in the past two years, with two replacing retirees.

Commercial and industrial tax increases will help pay for maintenance and proper operation of hydrants around these properties and for proper street lighting, among other incurred expenses.

The Coventry Professional Firefighters Union also made some significant concessions in their contracts, explained Labbadia. “Each member agreed to remove 11 holidays, for a cost savings of $53,376 and five sick days, for an additional savings of $39,600,” he said. “And there will be no two percent raise until October, 2012.”

“No tax increase is pleasant,” said Wayne Cote, Coventry Fire District, Anthony Fire Department Board Chairman. “I want to thank the firefighters for the “all the sacrifices they daily make for us and for the concessions they made in the contract. The budget is as barebone as it can be and still effectively provide necessary services.”

Cote reversed an earlier decision he had made about not running for reelection to the board. “My brother backed out of running for the seat (for health reasons) so I got the 40 signatures needed to run again,” he said. Both Cote and Shirley Marshall obtained the necessary signatures and voters approved their decision to run again for reelection without discussion.  

“We are aggressively pursuing the possibility of merging the two districts,” added Chief Labbadia, discussing the Anthony and Central Coventry Fire Districts. “We are moving in that direction. We now have the two local unions under one umbrella and are working and training together more and more. If we ever agree to merge, this can be a great thing. But it can only happen if we can provide greater service to the community for the same or less money.”

“We can not do anything until there is a forensic audit done of the two districts,” noted Cote. “We can only do that after both fire district budgets have been approved or denied by the voters and that hasn’t happened yet.”

“We have been talking about this (merger) for five years,” said long-time resident Ernest Cotnoir, who brought up the matter and questioned the slow process.

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