BOARDMAN FIRE DEPARTMENT To finance firefighters' raises, expenses to be cut

Senior firefighters will make $54,541 plus overtime and fringe benefits.
BOARDMAN -- Cutting fire department capital expenses in half is expected to help compensate for the increase in wages granted the township's firefighters in a recent contract settlement.
Christina Griffith, township deputy administrator, said Tuesday the 4 percent raises for the 42 firefighters will cost about $90,000 this year and in each of the next two years, for a total of about $270,000.
The three-year contract, retroactive to April 1, will run through March 31, 2007. It was recently ratified by both the township trustees and the International Association of Firefighters Local 1176.
Griffith said a decision by the trustees to reduce fire department capital expenses from $200,000 to $100,000 in next year's budget will help compensate for the wage increases.
Details
Under the contract, a beginning firefighter, now making $31,501, will earn $34,091, not including overtime, by the time the contract expires, while the base pay of a senior firefighter will increase from the current $48,503 to $54,541 by 2007.
Meanwhile, she said township officials are "shopping" for a preferred provider organization to provide health insurance for the firefighters.
Kathy Miller, one of the trustees, said she would have preferred to include a co-pay agreement in the contract to cope with the rising cost of health care.
But, a f & szlig;act finder involved with producing the settlement that was ratified recommended the township continue paying the full cost of the health care benefits.