Politics & Government
Old Field Considers Fire District Membership
Village's contract with local department set to expire next year.
Membership in the Setauket fire district may cost the village of Old Field less money than would an extension of its current contract with the Setauket fire department, according to Old Field mayor Michael Levine.
The issue was discussed at the village's board meeting on Dec. 14, when Levine thanked resident and former village board member John Von Lintig for looking into the cost of each.
"I looked at the cost of the contract and the cost of becoming a member," said Von Lintig, who served on the board from 2002 to 2008 and is a certified public accountant by trade. "It was fairly straightforward," he said.
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Von Lintig said he helped negotiate the current contract, set to expire next year.
A contract with a department in the district runs for five years. An extension would cost the village a fee that would increase each year for the next five years, beginning in 2012.
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According to figures provided by Levine, the cost for that first year would be $431,000, followed by $467,000 for the next year. The costs for the following three years would be $505,000, $546,000 and $588,000, respectively.
These numbers are not official as the contract is still being negotiated.
Rich Leute, one of five commissioners for the Setauket Fire District, explained that a village such as Old Field negotiates a contract when it is not in the district's tax base. The contract is simply a different way of paying for the same service.
"When we make the contract we try to make it as close as possible to what the taxpayer cost is," Leute said. The tax rate changes each year, he said.
Levine said authorization would need to be obtained from the town of Brookhaven in order for the village to join the fire district.
The district currently covers 28 square miles that include Setauket, East Setauket, and parts of Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, Lake Grove, Centereach, and Stony Brook. In addition to Old Field, it provides contract service to Stony Brook University Hospital and most of the university's campus.
