The Village of Endicott Fire Department, Local 1280, is responsible for protecting 13,000 residents, as well as thousands of private and public structures and properties.
The department’s 24 professional fire fighters answer the call 3,500 times a year. Ideally, they’d have 40 line staff, said Local 1280 President Lt. Paul Higgins. But like many upstate communities, the village struggles with a declining tax base that would normally help fund professional fire and emergency response services.
The biggest hit came when the Town of Endicott passed a controversial $1.8 million-tax reduction for a major factory complex. The village, which sits within the town, has no voting power or representation on such tax decisions, which has further fueled the controversy.
Adding to the tumult was a former chief who advocated for staff reductions, disallowed required equipment inspections to save funds, and threatened retaliation if his policies or actions were questioned. Local 1280 clashed with the chief for three years, issuing a vote of no-confidence at the end of 2009 and resisting his irresponsible cost-saving measures. In August 2012 the chief resigned.
“If I have a message for other departments across the state it’s this: resist bad chiefs. Resist those who advocate for the loss of staff, do not have the public’s best interests in mind and threaten the safety of the community and those who protect it,” Lt. Higgins said.
Local 1280 is also asking the Broome County Legislature to restore the way it distributes sales tax revenue to municipalities. The county used to divide the 8-percent tax in half, keeping 4 percent and allocating 1 percent to Medicare costs and a portion of the remaining 3 percent to localities to use for various services, including fire services. The Local is fighting to restore the formula to pre-2010 levels. The existing formula is expected to result in an additional $5 million for the county this year.
But these issues are mostly behind Local 1280 now, Lt. Higgins said. He praised Fire Chief Joseph Griswold for offering a buy-out, which seven firefighters took advantage of in October, instead of insisting on layoffs. “Mayor Griswold has shown a willingness to work with the union,” Lt. Higgins said. “We see the skies clearing.”
And County Executive Debra Preston, he added, has promised to restore more sales-tax funding to municipalities within Broome County, which could amount to an additional $500,000 to the fire department, Lt. Higgins said.
As for next year, Lt. Higgins said, Local 1280 will work on restoring staff levels from four or five per shift to six or seven per shift.