What the eff do they spend 2 million on?! Where can I see the budget details?

don't they send out letters looking for donations from residents, too? where is this money going??????>

Equiptment is expensive. Towaco, Especially needs the money now more than ever to replace equipment that has been overdue for updates due to lack of cooperation from past administration, including a new fire engine, radio communication equipment, breathing apparatus, and out of date bunker gear.. $60-$70 a year is not much to pay for the state of mind in knowing that you and your families are safe in the event of a house fire, car fire, or vehicle entrapment. If you cheap out and vote down fire budgets further, you are putting your family in danger and also the firefighters lives at risk because they cannot afford proper equipment to perform safely.

@Lois if you review the fund drive letter we recieved this year from the department, money collected from the fund drive last year were used to purchase a new thermal imaging camera.

The original flyer that I distributed is incorrect. I did not submit the flyer for publication on Patch. The flyer says that Wayne on spends $176,000 to fund its volunteer fire departments. This information is incorrect, Wayne spends substantially more. When I receive that exact number I will post it. The original amount was given to me by Wayne Township Municipal Clerk's office. As the Editor noted above certain costs are not included. I regret using the $176,000 and apologize for the confusion I had caused.

I do believe fire districts are a flawed and outdated system and Montville Township should begin a discussion and plan a path for their dissolution.

Jake, I spoke with an employee of Wayne's Treasury Division here are the 2011 budget numbers;
-Page 15, $176,330.00 Aid to Volunteer Fire Companies.
-Page 20, $159,000.00 LOSAP Contribution, which is a Length of Service Awards
Program. A deferred compensation retirement fund for Volunteer Firemen.
-Page 40c-2, $230.000.00 Capital Program (excluding annual fire truck purchase).
-$1,000,000.00(approx) Annual Fire Truck purchase. Wayne has 5 volunteer fire
companies, each has one firehouse, each receives a new truck every year.
Other items blended with Township expenses;
-$177,500.00 Maintenance and Upkeep of Buildings and Equipment.
- Workman's compensation and fuel. These costs are blended with the operating costs of the township, they are not they are not substantial.
All accounted Wayne has more than double the population of residents and of businesses. It has more land mass. It also has Willowbrook Mall, William Paterson University and St. Joseph Hospital and they purchase a new fire truck every year.
They manage to accomplish this for less tax dollars than Montville's 3 Fire Districts.
My point holds; Fire Districts are an inefficient use of taxpayer money.

I WILL BE VOTING TOMORROW, SATURDAY IN THE TOWACO FIRE DISTRICT. I THINK WE SHOULD LOOK INTO HOW WE FUND THE FIRE DISTRICTS. IN LIGHT OF THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCIES THAT WERE DISCOVERED LAST YEAR AND SUBSEQUENT SHENNIGANS THAT WERE DISCOVERED, WE CAN NO LONGER ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN AGAIN IN ANY AREA OF WHERE TAXPAYER DOLLARS ARE BEING USED. I AGREE WITH DAN'S IDEA THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT A BETTER MORE EFFICIENT WAY TO FUND OUR FIRE DISTRICTS. I WANT TO THANK ALL THE FIRE DISTRICT PERSONNEL FOR THE WORK THAT THEY DO.
GENE CORNO, JR.

Jake, According to state statute fire prevention expenses are fully funded by the revenues they generated from inspections mandated under the Uniform Fire Act and Uniform Fire Code. Wayne has 3 full-time inspectors, 1 part-time inspector. Their Fire Official is also their Fire Subcode Official. The Fire Prevention Bureau is self-funded.

This is why what happened in the Towaco Fire District is so offensive. There was never any justification for a F/T Administrator or a F/T Fire Inspector. Countless hundreds of thousands of dollars were squandered by a reckless Board of Commissioners. At the time Township Committee members, Commissioners in other districts and members of Montville's "ruling class" knew it was improper but they all looked the other way. When the Montville Tea Party exposed the lack of transparency and the abuse of taxpayer money they all pled ignorance.

If we dissolve the fire districts we will save tax dollars and by able to better fund the volunteer firemen. They are the ones who deserve our gratitude as well as our tax dollars.

Any issues that existed in the past with the Towaco Fire District regarding finances have been resolved, the new board of commissioners are functioning as they should. You don't fix something that isn't broken, so why dismiss the functioning fire districts that are made up of people who actually know fire-matics and replace them with penny pinching politicians? Eliminating the fire districts will complicate how everything gets done and supporting that theory is no way of showing gratitude to the firefighters who serve the town to keep us safe.

It's pure bull and that is why you refuse to use your real name.
The Towaco Fire District 2010-2011 budgets that were submitted to the DCA showed $330,000 as a "restricted" budget line item to be used for a capital purchase. The money was used to operate the district, that is why the Towaco BOC are asking for a tax increase to replace the money that was squandered. The firefighters will be better funded without a BOC and administrative costs that are better left to professionals at the municipal level.

Im actually gonna level with you for just a moment, you and the tea party think that you are fighting what is a worthy cause. You call yourselves the tea party. The voters will decide the outcome as this is America. Protest and democracy are great rights that we as Americans have and those rights are protected by our Military. Im going to assume there is patriotism behind the name "tea party". But why not pick a cause that really deserves protest. The American Flag was lowered to half staff to honor a pop star...With all the effort you seem to be putting into this budget protest, you could have actually generated a true protest against this action that weakens the purpose of flying our flags at half-staff. Otherwise, what's next, flying our flag for Justin Beiber?

Let's not confuse issues. Just stick to the important issue that these districts do what we as a community need and do it at a very cost effective level. I said last year that the attack against the Towaco Fire District would spread and this year it has. Lose the volunteers and the spirit they bring to the Departments and this Township will suffer for it. Is there waste and unfairness in the Township? Without a doubt but it isn't here. The attacks on the budgets and Commissioners who have spent so much time and dedication by people who don't even understand their efforts is just wrong but it unfortunately is the Township we presently live in.

No Bull, I hope you realize when you use the pseudonym "No Bull" you should not begin your comment by stating "I'm actually going to level with you for just a moment". Please realize I make every comment with purpose and intent I am always on the level. Thanks for asking why I picked this cause.

As a nation, we are $14 trillion dollars in debt and rising every day. As a state, we have $150 billion dollars in unfunded obligations. My generation has spent the wealth of my children's generation and my yet to be born grandchildren's generation. A fire district is the most local form of government; we must act responsibly and reduce costs when the savings are easily identifiable. I hope to provoke people to become involved in their government because if we cannot act responsibly at the local level then there is no hope we will ever control spending at the state and national level. I do this because I owe a debt to those who promised to leave this great nation better than they found it. The sad and simple truth is I have not yet kept my promise.

To all who reads and posts here....I am a taxpayer. I am a volunteer firefighter. I have been attending commissioner meetings for the past 5 years. Nowhere is the mo.rt squandered. Noone embezzled ,misappropriated, or lost any money. What is in the budget runs the fire house and major expenditures. The fund raising the volunteer firefighters do every year purchases smaller pieces of equipment..last year was a new thermal imaging camera. We replace equipment as time goes.
People attacked Towaco after one year of half heartedly attempting to pick apart the budget. How do figure if the districts were eliminated, that would save the taxpayers? Instead of a seperate line on your taxes for fire the money will just be bundled in municipal tax. Ateast you know exactly 66$ of your tax money is going. Dissolving the districts would put the volunteers in harms way ...a politician doesn't know what a ktool is anymore than I know how to budget a town. The commissioners know what is needed to keep volunteers trained , safe, and have available the much needed updated equipment to handle the calls they respond to.
I am voting for the budget. That is my right. As that volunteer firefighter I mentioned earlier and as a taxpayer. But do not accuse myself, or any of my brother firefighters of stealing ,mishandling, or misleading the townspeople of funds we have worked so hard for.