In November, voters in the City of Mechanicville will decide whether the city terminates the Length of Service Award Program for volunteer firefighters. As WAMC’s Samantha Simmons reports, the vote could determine the fate of the city’s volunteer department.
The Length of Service Award Program, or LOSAP, awards volunteer firefighters a monthly payment when they turn 65, determined by the time they served.
Funded by taxpayers, the city has paid more than $1.4 million since 2008. Tamar Martin, the city’s finance commissioner, says the program is unsustainable. She says if voters choose to keep the service award payments, the city is at risk of losing its fire department entirely. Martin says the awards come from an investment fund that was originally expected to garner a six-percent return annually. But so far, that fund is returning at a 3.3 percent rate on a good market day. Martin says that’s led to a looming shortfall.
“Nothing that we give those firefighters, those people running into burning buildings, nothing would ever be adequate or enough to say ‘thank you,’” Martin said. “But this program that was originally proposed by some firefighters themselves, I think, may just be a little bit of an incentive to make people more curious about getting more information.”
Martin says the program hasn’t helped to recruit or retain new volunteer members as effectively as designed. Costing the city roughly $80,000 a year, Martin says, “the promise of a monthly payment at age 65 has not dramatically affected the number of new members in the fire department.”
Matt Dunn is the city’s Deputy Fire Chief. Dunn says if the service payout program is voted down on Election Day, the city will roll out a new stipend program next year. That program would allow new volunteers to access benefits in their first year, and it would cost the city less than half that of the current system – to the tune of $35,000 per year.
Martin says the new program would also change from being managed by outside firms to being managed locally.
Dunn agrees, saying younger members aren’t interested in plans that provide payouts decades in the future.
“If we compensate them for coming to a call, like a pay per call type of program, which is done in other states, we think it's going to directly benefit the residents. We're going to see increased response times. We're going to see increased membership,” Dunn said.
Under the current program, volunteers become vested after five years and are guaranteed a 10-year payout at age 65. Martin says volunteers often don’t stay with the department long enough to become fully vested. Martin says of four new recruits, zero signed up for LOSAP.
The city’s volunteer fire department serves more than 7,500 people. Firefighters respond to around 800 calls each year, with some volunteers making it to upwards of 200 calls. Dunn says the program could attract more members, thus lowering response times.
Under the new stipend program, Martin says firefighters would be paid out yearly from city coughers. Based on a points system, Martin says, the system could incentivize people to be part of the team.
“If you attend trainings and improve your skills, you get more points if you're a paramedic and can respond in a greater diversity of ways to emergencies,” Martin said. “So, it's really, in my opinion, a well-designed program that will help the younger firefighters that that are the major, the greater proportion of people responding to these events.”
Dunn wants to assure residents that the plan has been vetted for more than two years and may only be temporary. He says while it may not be perfect, it’s worth a shot, given that the current system hasn’t effectively bolstered recruitment and retention.
“It's a public service. So that's what we go to do. The alarm goes off, we go and respond to the call. That's, you know, that's why a majority of people get into it,” Dunn said. “They don't get into it to be compensated. But, you know, I have guys that are making upwards of 250-300 calls a year, which is a lot, you know. So, we believe that we can give them some sort of stipend, and it's not going to be much, but it's something is better than nothing for them to maybe leave at two o'clock in the morning. They're home for a fire alarm or something like that.”
Money currently in the LOSAP fund has already been set aside and will be divvied up to all participating members if the program is discontinued. If dissolved, the city’s council would vote early next year on the new plan. Money for that plan has already been earmarked.
