Region of Queens councillors and staff have found a way to help the county’s fire departments with the increased costs of buying new equipment — and all without raising the tax rate.
Councillors are currently in budget deliberations, so the final budget has not been approved. But they headed off a request for an increase to the tax rate of one cent per $100 of assessment to help fire departments pay for new trucks by getting funds from the municipality’s accumulated surplus instead of raising the tax rate.
Fire chiefs made a presentation to council on Tuesday, saying that new trucks keep getting more expensive. And higher interest rates mean that borrowing costs for fire departments have skyrocketed.
Councillors are scheduled to vote on the final budget at their council meeting on Tuesday April 23.
