Which Department Has the Highest Payroll Expense?

Garden City 5.4 Million with payroll, pensions, and benefits.

All that with 25 to 30 year old rigs and absolutely no ems / ambulance service.

What a waste...

Yea, and no LOSAP for 120 volunteer members. After spending 5.4 million per year with 20 yr full retirement for paid ff's, the gov't will not pay less then 100k a year to fund LOSAP at all for volunteer members.

[lbltjag]

I think you've made the case against LOSAP yourself. You claim 120 members on the volunteer side of the department. If true, that is a healthy corps of members and certainly indicates no need for any further incentives in order to attract or retain members. Remember, LOSAP is not supposed to be a bone that is thrown your way, it was supposed to be an incentive for recruitment and retention. Sounds to me like GC requires neither. I'm guessing that the hope of getting hired to the paid side of the department is what helps GC keep its volunteer roster so plump. Just a theory of course.

Ninety volunteer members of the Garden City Fire Department, their families and relatives went as a group to the village voting booths during the trustee election on Tuesday to make a statement by only voting for the two trustees who supported the retirement benefit they proposed during a recent budget work session.

The results show a marked difference: the two trustees who supported the benefit plan, Trustees Donald Brudie and John Watras, received 152 and 150 votes, respectively. Trustees Peter Bee and John Mauk, who did not support the plan, received 60 and 55 votes, respectively.

"The main goal was to show support for the two trustees who supported us in our efforts," said First Assistant Chief John Casey.

At a March 4th budget work session, the Board of Trustees decided to cut $232,614 allocated to the retirement benefit Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) from the volunteer fire department's budget, which will result in a .58 percent tax savings.

Fire Chief Ed Moran argued that the program would be an effective recruiting and retention tool. He also said only 10 out of 71 fire departments in Nassau County do not have the program, which allows fire department volunteers who have put in a certain number of years in the department to earn service credits toward retirement benefits.

Trustee Thomas Lamberti, who was not up for re-election this year, presented a scathing 41-page report from the New York State Comptroller's Office at the budget work session which concluded that the program does not either help recruit or retain volunteer firefighters. According to First Assistant Chief John Casey, who spoke to The Garden City News after the election, the report is almost seven years old. He said he has talked to fire department officials in surrounding communities who say the program is imperative to their volunteer department's survival. Casey added that the Garden City volunteer fire department looks forward to working with the Board on this issue.

Trustee Bee suggested that the village and fire department look at defined contribution plans as opposed to the defined benefit LOSAP plan presented by the fire chief. With a defined contribution plan, the Village would be certain of the annual cost, whereas a defined benefit plan's cost is based on factors such as actuarial assumptions and investment earnings.

"They have expressed themselves in a way that they are entitled to do," said Bee. "I have heard their message."

Trustee John Mauk also wants to explore other plan options. "I have always supported the firefighters' requests for the latest in equipment and other improvements to help them do their important job," he said. "As with all the many residents involved in serving the Village, our volunteer firemen provide a valuable service, and I appreciate that they think we should acknowledge that with more than just a pat on the back. I respect their right to express their displeasure through the vote, but I think there are more productive approaches they could have taken to make the case for personal compensation.

"What the firemen are seeking here isn't just a one-time payment. They want the Village to take-on a new pension program, at a time when public and private organizations all over the country are looking for ways to shed such programs because of their burdensome costs. The program that has been proposed to us would involve a long-term commitment by the Village and uncertain costs that are potentially very expensive for Village taxpayers. Although only one plan was presented to the trustees, I understand 22 different plan concepts are available; each with different cost implications. Given the fiduciary responsibility the trustees have to the residents, I wasn't comfortable committing to a program of this sort based on the limited information we received."

[RUONCRACK?]

I think you've made the case against LOSAP yourself. You claim 120 members on the volunteer side of the department. If true, that is a healthy corps of members and certainly indicates no need for any further incentives in order to attract or retain members. Remember, LOSAP is not supposed to be a bone that is thrown your way, it was supposed to be an incentive for recruitment and retention. Sounds to me like GC requires neither. I'm guessing that the hope of getting hired to the paid side of the department is what helps GC keep its volunteer roster so plump. Just a theory of course.

How could someone at 60 or even 80 K per year afford to buy and maintain a home in GC unless you were deeded a family home on the inside or gratis. And yes the impressionable kid or two may want to join the paid force rather than go to college like his other classmates, then try it. Thats what my Dad and a PAID LT. told me when I was a youngster.
And no indications that you need to retain or recruit new members, whats the servciable life of a new volunteer, five eight years? Properly done and supervised the actuarials are not as crazy as they say and there are better plans / investments. If the Village is still populated with the people it was when I grew up there, you have more than enough good financiers that can figure out a killer investment plan, like us out in the "boonies" did.
Your constant union/ civil service, "I know it all dribble" is an insult to everyone who has choosen this profession, paid and volunteer alike. I have no clue why the union even allows you to continue this tirade, complete with apologies from them through you about the Newsrag articles. Nobody cares, you work for Volunteers like GC don't you? Like it or not, beat your chest, stand on a sand dune and yell it out to the Ocean maybe the fish will hear it.

[By the way guest]

Hey Lt., you are lucky you didn't have a Commissioner like me, I got a reserved seat at the PERB in Brooklyn. Trucks lookin' a little dirty, want to get off the computer an attend to that?

Garden City 5.4 Million with payroll, pensions, and benefits.

9 men on duty during the day and 7 at night.

All that with 25 to 30 year old rigs and absolutely no ems / ambulance service other than county pd and mutual aid subsidised by other volunteer FD's and Vac's.

What a waste...

The majority if not all the paid firefighters in GCFD do not live in GC

[know what your asking]

The question was:

"Which DEPARTMENT has the highest payroll?"

Answer:

NONE.

DEPARTMENTS do not have paid employees.

The fire DISTRICT is the entity that hires employees.

[Get a clue..]

Get a clue.. Not all FDs are districts.

The question was:

"Which DEPARTMENT has the highest payroll?"

Answer:

NONE.

DEPARTMENTS do not have paid employees.

The fire DISTRICT is the entity that hires employees.

commack look at all their new toys!

commack look at all their new toys!

Commack Fire only pays housemen and disptachers.

If you're talking about CVAC, what new toys? They pay 1 medic per shift, 19 hours per day.

by far selden