Boyceville fire board approves $221,000 budget for 2022
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — The Boyceville Community Fire District Board has approved a budget of $221,368 for 2022, representing a 17 percent increase over the 2021 budget of $188,968, which amounts to an increase of $32,400.
The budget was completed before the final numbers for the Boyceville reassessment were received, but the reassessment will not affect the fire assessment very much, said Cory Green, Boyceville fire chief, at a meeting of the Boyceville fire board September 15.
The 2022 budget contains an increase in firefighter reimbursement of $1,000. The firefighters will receive a $1 per hour raise, and the monthly meeting pay will increase from $20 to $25, he said.
The last raise the firefighters received was before he was chief, Green said, noting that the pay would go from $15 to $16 per hour.
The budget also includes an additional $600 to add a third maintenance person. The fire department currently has two equipment mechanics, and the third maintenance person, who does maintenance for a hospital, will oversee the maintenance for the fire station so the building is checked every month to make sure everything is working properly, such as the air exchangers, he said.
Previous budgets have included $10,000 for the equipment fund, and the budget for 2022, contains $40,000 for the equipment fund, Green said.
The $30,000 will be used to buy a new pickup truck, but there will be $30,000 in carry-over from 2021 that will pay for the truck, so it will not affect anyone’s assessment, he said.
The new truck will be a three-quarter ton four-wheel-drive pickup truck that will replace the existing command vehicle, and when the 1979 brush truck goes out of service, the brush truck will not be replaced, Green said.
The new truck will replace two vehicles with one. Other fire departments do not have three brush trucks, he said.
“I’m trying to do what’s best for everybody … we’ll get by on a fire with two brush trucks,” Green said.
“Do you know how much new pickup trucks cost?” asked one fire board member, who pointed out that $30,000 is not going to purchase a new truck.
With a municipal discount, $30,000 will buy a new pickup truck, Green said, adding that he had already checked on the cost with a dealership.
The Boyceville Community Fire District Board unanimously approved the proposed budget for 2022.
Members of the fire district include the Villages of Boyceville and Wheeler and the Towns of Hay River, New Haven, Sherman, Stanton and Tiffany.
Wheeler did not have a representative at the meeting.
The Boyceville fire board also unanimously approved the proposed preliminary assessments.
Assessments
Here are the proposed assessments for the 2022 budget:
• Town of Hay River — $23,191, representing an increase of $160.
• Town of New Haven — $15,389, representing an increase of $528.
• Town of Sherman — $16,071, representing an increase of $990.
• Town of Stanton — $23,932, representing an increase of $674.
• Town of Tiffany — $12,572, representing an increase of $343.
• Village of Boyceville — $19,210, representing an increase of $131.
• Village of Wheeler — $3,485, representing a decrease of $176.
Other business
In other business, the Boyceville Community Fire District Board:
• Learned that the fire department has gone out on 32 runs to date, and that since the last meeting, the fire department had been called to a car/deer accident, but the call was cancelled before the fire department went out. The fire department also responded to a downed power line in Boyceville.
• Learned that the fire department roster now has 31 people.
• Learned that the open house for the Boyceville Cucumber Festival was a success. Between 75 and 100 people toured the new fire station, and some past members of the fire department were at the open house as well, Green said. The open house “was worth the effort and the ad (in the newspaper),” he said.
• Learned that other outreach for the fire department had included participation in parades at Durand, Colfax, Ridgeland, and Glenwood City.
• Approved allowing the clerk-treasurer to pay monthly bills in between board meetings. The clerk-treasurer will e-mail the monthly bills to the clerks in the respective municipalities so the town boards and village boards can review them.
The Boyceville Community Fire District Board has approved meeting quarterly, and the next meeting will be December 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Boyceville fire station.
