The fire next time

Last week, the Town of Lumberland voted down a proposal to establish a Length of Service Award Program for its volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel. We can understand why voters might have had reservations about the specific plan proposed. But we also think that there’s a lot of room between the Rolls-Royce scheme that was put before the voters of Lumberland last Tuesday and nothing. And—though we gulp as we write this, because we realize it could have an impact on our own taxes—we think that it might behoove not just Lumberland, but all the towns in this area that have not already done so, to search for fiscally responsible ways to reward firefighters for their service.

Volunteer fire departments don’t come completely free; as pointed out by Lewis Powell’s “My View” two weeks ago, Lumberland has a contract with its fire company for $160,000 this year—but that money doesn’t go into the pockets of the firefighters; it goes to purchase, run and maintain trucks, buildings and equipment including an engine, rescue truck, tanker, brush truck (for brush fires), airboat for river and lake rescues, raft (to back up the airboat), six-wheeler (for brush fires and lost searches) and a New York-certified ambulance. And volunteer fire services do come considerably cheaper than the alternative. A 1986 study of volunteer and professional fire departments in New York State showed that all-volunteer departments on average cost less than a quarter as much as professional departments. (For the Lumberland fire department’s point of view, see “My View” on page 7).

But there are signs we may not be able to count on this resource indefinitely. The number of volunteer firefighters in the nation is declining, and a USA Today article printed a few years ago reported that the ranks of firefighters in Northeast Pennsylvania had shrunk from 300,000 three decades previously to only about 72,000 in 2005. Some areas are “solving” this problem by filling in the gap with private firefighters—who will save only the houses of the people who pay them. We saw the results of this recently during the huge wildfires that burned thousands of acres in the West: the houses of people rich enough to pay the private firefighters were saved while their poorer neighbors’ houses burned to the ground.

We don’t think that that’s how this area wants to conduct its business. But in order to avoid it, we might have to sweeten the deal a little for our local volunteers. There are a number of ways to do so that stop short of breaking the bank.

The Lumberland plan would have called for $30 per month per year of service and had a cap of 40 years of service; it would have wound up paying $900 a month to someone with 30 years of service, $1,200 to someone with 40 years—more than many people receive in Social Security payments for a lifetime of full-time work. In contrast, Highland has adopted a plan similar to Lumberland’s, but with $10 per month per year of service vesting and a $400-a-month cap.

That difference would go some way towards controlling costs, but we question whether any defined benefit plan is a good idea. Such plans, which guarantee a certain level of payout in the future to each recipient, used to be standard for pensions in this country. They have become virtually unheard of for a simple reason: so many companies went broke when contributions needed to fund the guaranteed benefits spiraled unexpectedly out of control that no sane businessperson will initiate such a plan any more. The alternative is a defined contribution: fix the sum the town has to put in the trust fund per fireman per year of service, but do not guarantee the exact payout.

Some Lumberland taxpayers also complained that they felt that the plan had been presented to them on a take-it-or-leave it basis, without opportunity for their input. There’s a simple way to solve that: residents should move pro-actively on this issue instead of waiting for our fire companies to come begging. Taxpayers could get together with volunteer firefighters to try to hammer out plans that give both sides what they need before such proposals actually appear on the ballot. That way, perhaps we can devise plans that will not price property taxes out of our reach, while recognizing that our firefighters are people who do, after all, risk their lives to protect our own lives and property.

Also in this issue:

• The Lumberland Fire Department:

Dr. Punnybone

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