Say yes to Rescue staffing, but no to Fire

When you look at the amount of money Lebanon Fire and Rescue is looking for to fund per diem staff it's easy to see those outlays are far more lavish than some of the surrounding towns of comparable size.

For instance Milton, which is a combined fire/rescue, staffs two people for 12 hours a day. North Berwick Rescue will soon be staffing two people 24/7, but North Berwick Fire is still all call firefighters who don't get paid unless there's a fire call.

The Lebanon proposals ask voters to approve two paid staff for each department for 14 hours a day. That's four paid positions at a cost of about $200,000, which also includes some "on-call" stipends as well.

At the same time voters are being asked to combine both departments, an idea that's been a long time coming and thank God it's finally here by the way.

What's troubling is that fire calls amount for a fraction of first responder calls in most towns, including Lebanon. In Milton, about eight percent of calls were for fires in 2014 compared to about 60 percent that were medical/Rescue related. We realize that sometimes fire apparatus can be called to a Rescue situation, but the numbers don't lie.

Bottom line, we support the paid staffing for Rescue, but not for fire. Not this year. Too much money. Not enough demand.

Besides, it's a sure bet that Lebanon's fire and rescue will be combined come July1. The solution is to cross-train our per diem staff and keep an ambulance at Central Station on Upper Cross Road.

Then there will be a two-person crew ready at the drop of a hat for any kind of emergency.

Lebanon's taxes have outstripped inflation three out of the four past years. And during two of those years money from the town's general fund was used to offset what would've been even larger mil rate increases at the cost of putting the town in dire financial straits.

In Fiscal Year 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 Lebanon selectmen moved $600,000 - $300,000 each year - from the town's general fund to reduce property taxes leaving the fund in what auditors in 2014 called an unsustainable level.

Even with those irresponsible disbursals, the tax rate rose about 5 percent each year, well more than double the rate of inflation.

Between 2011 and 2014, even with the $600,000 expenditure from the general fund, Lebanon real estate taxes went up 12.6 percent, while inflation for those years had gone up about 4.7 percent, according to USinflationcalculator.com.

Last year we kept the increase down to just 40 cents, which took it to $14.90.

This year, if all the spending selectmen recommend goes through it will be around $16.

That means a person owning a $100,000 home would pay $1,600 a year. Oh, by the way, we just used that for an example due to easy math. Good luck finding a $100,000 home.

Lebanon taxes, for so long reasonable, are starting to get out of hand. It's time to lower the boom on runaway spending. Lebanon's older residents as well as its working poor can't afford another increase. Renters beware also, landlords will load any tax hikes onto your rents.

Lebanon's Fire's mutual aid partnerships are solid. It's the Rescue side that has drawn criticism and sole responder fees from surrounding towns.

We think it's in the best interest of the town and its citizens to staff Lebanon Rescue. But say no to fire. They'll still be in business. Their budget will just revert to last year's levels.

- HT