Fire budget up for vote
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
2/20/2010

Residents will have their chance to decide the fate of the 2010 Cherry Hill Fire District budget this Saturday, as fire district elections will be held from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Fire Chief Robert Giorgio announced that the proposed $25.04 million 2010 budget will include a fire tax rate that will remain the same at 44.6 cents per every $100 of assessed property value. Giorgio commended the district, its commissioners, and dedicated employees for keeping the fire tax rate at the same level as last year.

“We’re managing our affairs. That’s what the public expects of us and that’s what we’ll do. I’ve been involved in the budget process since 1996 and I realized early on if we didn’t focus on a multi-year budget view we’d never be able to manage our day-to-day operations,” he said. “That’s the way we’ve been looking at it for a number of years, that’s allowed us to make wise decisions and keep the tax rate down.”

Residents will also cast their votes for three open spaces on the district fire commission, though none of the seats are in contention. Candidates Howard Margulies and John D. Vaughn are running for two three-year seats and candidate Joyce Alexander Walker is running for one unexpired one-year seat on the commission.

The district has been able to keep its tax rate down in the past few years by leaving several positions in the district vacant, reducing positions at the administrative level, and continuing to focus on cost and field operations, Giorgio said.

“Several capital projects are coming to a close this year. We’ve been on a payment schedule, so that’s not affecting the budget this year.

“Our firefighters are even helping us do finish work in the buildings and helping us bring the projects in on budget,” he said. “We’re fully funding our maintenance operations this year as well. We don’t want to defer maintenance on the equipment, which leads to higher cost later.”

The district is focusing on a number of grant applications for this year as well, Giorgio said, about $2.7 million worth. Word on a large self-contained breathing apparatus grant should come to the district fairly soon, the chief said, and would help save the district a decent amount of money on the needed equipment.

The district will continue to explore its grant opportunities throughout the year, he said. For more information on the budget and polling locations, please visit the district’s Web site at CherryHillFire.org.