By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
City Council on Tuesday introduced a $25 million municipal budget for 2020 that keeps local taxes stable and includes more funding for Sea Isle City’s volunteer fire department to have a firefighting crew on duty during the overnight hours.
City officials are discussing plans for having as many as four firefighters stationed overnight at the fire department for more fire coverage beginning this summer.
A restructuring of the fire department, following a series of major fires over the past three years, includes incentivizing the volunteer firefighter positions with a stipend program for overnight duty.
The proposed 2020 municipal budget would increase the fire department’s funding from $116,300 to $269,125 to pay for the overnight crews, Sea Isle Chief Financial Officer Paula Doll said.
Doll said in an interview after Tuesday’s Council meeting that final details for an overnight crew are still being worked out. The city plans to have the overnight coverage ready to go starting with Memorial Day weekend, the traditional kickoff for the bustling summer tourism season, she noted.
Concerns arose about the fire department after four separate blazes destroyed a total of nine single-family homes or duplexes dating back the past three years. One of the fires killed an elderly woman in November 2018.
Some residents have called for Sea Isle to consider switching to a paid fire department instead of relying on volunteers or to improve fire protection and response times in other ways. City officials have repeatedly praised the volunteer firefighters for their service and response times amid recent changes in the department.
A restructuring plan announced earlier this month by city officials includes improvements for emergency dispatching, response protocols and staffing.
“We are continuing to look at ways to improve all emergency services – police, fire and EMS,” said Police Chief Tom McQuillen, who oversees public safety, including the fire department. “We are doing everything we can every day to figure out the best way to provide police, fire and emergency medical services, but we are still finalizing the plan and it will be reviewed.”
He explained that since November 2019, the city has made changes to the dispatch protocols to do simulcast dispatching, in which police, fire and emergency medical technicians are all alerted for response to an emergency scene. The former protocol had police going to survey the situation prior to other personnel responding.
Members of City Council had called for an increase in fire department funding in the 2020 budget.
“I think it’s a normal course of business to stay on top of what they need and what we’re interested in doing,” Council President J.B. Feeley said of improvements for the fire department.
Although the new $25 million budget is up slightly from the $24.6 million spending plan in 2019, local taxes are remaining the same.
“There is no local tax increase reflected in this budget,” Doll told the Council members.
The owner of an average home assessed at $674,873 will pay $2,564 annually in local taxes, Doll said. The owner of the same house will pay $4,845 annually for all taxes, including local, county and school levies.
Sea Isle’s water and sewer rates are staying the same for a seventh year in a row. The average homeowner pays $1,220 annually for sewer and water service.
Reflecting Sea Isle’s strong finances overall, the 2020 budget includes a $6.4 million surplus, likely the city’s largest ever, officials said.
Council has scheduled a public hearing and final vote on the budget at its March 24 meeting, 10 a.m. at City Hall.
