At the Fire District’s 2024 budget hearing last night, Mayor Cantu, on behalf of the Township Committee, unanimously opposed the District’s budget request to increase their budget by 58 percent.
According to Fire District budget information, the proposed budget will increase by $1,547,000, from 2023 ($2,658,577) to 2024 ($4,205,577), an exceptionally high increase from the previous year, with future significant increases planned for following years.
The increase in the budget is due to the Fire District’s desire to increase fire personnel from 13 full-time paid staff to 21 full-time paid staff, with plans by the District Commissioners to grow to 32 full-time paid fire personnel.
Mayor Cantu said “due to the District’s lack of transparency, the significant budget request to exceed and waive the mandatory 2% state CAP, questionable and unsupported staffing needs and growth projections and the very significant financial impact to our residents, we have serious concerns about your budget request. We unanimously oppose the budget as proposed by the Fire District to our residents and as submitted to the state. Further, we oppose the District’s election scheduled on February 17th requesting a massive CAP exception, allowing the District to spend $1,547,000 more than the state allows without a CAP waiver (a 34-fold increase), leading to a large property tax increase.”
During the Township Committee presentation, it was revealed that fire statistics from 2018-2023 showed only slight increases in Calls for Service within Plainsboro, and indicated that those increases are from fire responses to accidents, and traffic assistance, not life-threating fire situations.
Mayor Cantu requested that the Fire District Commissioners reject this budget. In addition, if the budget request to exceed the 2% CAP by the $1,547,000 is not approved at the February 17th election, Mayor Cantu strongly encourages that the District Board Commissioners meet with Director of Public Safety/Police Chief Blanchard, the Township Committee and other appropriate township staff to discuss alternatives that minimize property tax impacts while effectively meeting the safety needs of the community; focusing on current budget and manpower oversight, effective management and leadership, reviewing volunteer manpower and recruitment options, and reviewing all staffing needs for both current and future personnel.
For more information on the township’s testimony opposing the proposed budget, and budget election on February 17th. click here Township's testimony
*The Fire District has independent separate taxing authority, separate from Township government, and is overseen by an independent Board of Commissioners with responsibility to draft, approve and communicate information about the Fire District budget.