Forming a fire district to directly tax residents and nonprofits for the cost of emergency services has provoked mixed reactions.
First Selectman Matt Riiska and Board of Finance Chairman Michael Sconyers favor the plan, which would spread the cost for such services evenly among landowners in the community, including some nonprofits that now contribute nothing to the town’s coffers.
“I’ve talked to different people about that, and some people question whether it’s worth [forming a separate taxing entity],” Riiska said. “They say, ‘Why not ask for payments in lieu of taxes?’ Or they are afraid of legal pushback.”
Sconyers was not quelled, however. Asked who should be taxed for the services, he said emphatically, “Everyone.”
Riiska said the Fire District tax would not be too high, somewhere between .75 and 1.5 mills, and would create a predictable income stream to cover all costs associated with emergency services, from the Emergency Management Department to the ambulance corps and firefighters.
“We’re trying to maintain a budget for everything—Litchfield County Dispatch [which dispatches 62 fire, medical, and police services in Litchfield County], equipment, hydrants …,” he said. “We would just be sharing the costs in a different way. It would be nice to have some income from the nonprofits who use the services a lot and pay nothing.”
Not all nonprofits would be affected. “We won’t get money from the state, the Nature Conservancy or the land trust, organizations that just have land and don’t use services,” Riiska said.