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Firemen
The
Troy Record
The
Troy Record follows the fiscal meltdown in Cohoes more
closely than most taxpayers. As you reported, we still
face the prospect of
a 15% property tax hike as well as cuts in
services. Of course this simply continues the trend of
charging more while providing less. How this can
happen remains a mystery to many people. Yet, the first
public meeting on the proposed budget provided an
example of how this can happen.
Our
firemen, speaking through their union president, are
unhappy with the prospect of
layoffs. They object to the Chief asking for a
new fire truck for $200,000 to replace a rusting 1979
truck which can only be used with limitations. They
propose the city should instead buy a cast off truck
from another district to save their jobs for another
year.
Not
one of them pointed out
the important but little known fact that one
third of the force now gets paid for nothing. It seems a
state law obligates us to continue all pay and benefits
(until their 70th birthday) to those who are unable to
work as firemen because of any injury received during
working hours. Next year this special form of Workers'
Compensation/Very Early Retirement With Full Pay for
firemen will cost us $400,000. This amount does not
include several hundred thousand more paid out of our
state tax contributions. Apparently, at least some -
perhaps most - of these men could contribute in some
other capacity - as dispatchers or as building code
inspectors for example .
With
those $400,000, firemen could avoid layoffs,
the Chief could buy a brand new fire truck each
and every year, and we taxpayers would pay less for
better service instead of the other way around.
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