Pictured is the fire department located in Campville, N.Y. located on the old Route 17C and heading towards Endicott, N.Y. (Photo by Wendy Post)
In the commissioner election for the Owego Fire District, incumbent Joe Stocks soundly defeated challenger Carl Jones. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, district voters reelected Stocks with 169 votes. Jones trailed behind with 91 votes.
Fire commissioners serve five-year terms on a five-member board. Among other things, commissioners manage contracts and make financial decisions for the district.
According to other news outlets, Jones’s platform included opposing the upcoming 22 percent tax rate increase. In the district’s 2015 budget, the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value will increase from $1.78 to $2.18. The tax increase comes at the same time as a controversial new fire station build. The Campville Fire Department – which is a separate entity that contracts with the Owego Fire District – has taken over a contract for the north side of town and with part of the money from that contract they plan to build a new 7,000-square-foot station on State Route 38.
Although some have connected the tax increase to the new station build, Town of Owego Fire District Commissioners President Walter Jones previously explained that the district and district taxpayers will not be paying for the new station. The district will be paying for the contract – which is cheaper than the existing contract for the Village of Owego Fire Department to cover that area – and if Campville chooses to use that contract money for new construction, they are allowed to do so.
Jones said that the tax increase comes from the loss of a $229,000 contract to supply paramedics to the Apalachin Fire Department’s ambulance service. In a letter posted on its website, the Apalachin Fire Department explained that the contract was rejected because it included a 9 percent increase in fees that would have caused the Apalachin Fire District to exceed its tax cap.
