Authorizes the town board of any town, which does not have a fire district, to establish and operate a town fire department

BILL NUMBER:S996

Title of bill

An act to amend the town law, in relation to authorizing a town to establish and operate a town fire department

Purpose

To allow towns to establish and operate their own fire department, as a city and village can currently do.

Summary of provisions

Section 1- Adds a new article 10-A to the town law providing for the establishment of town fire departments.

Section 2- Contains the effective date.

Existing law

Current law does not allow for the establishment of town fire departments. However, cities and villages may have fire departments under their control. A town is only allowed to have a fire protection district or a fire district with a separate board of commissioners.

Justification

As part of the Senate Local Governments Committee report entitled,

"Sharing Services and Saving Tax Dollars," it was discovered that there is a lot of discrepancy with respect to activities cities, towns, and villages can provide. One specific example is that cities and villages can have fire departments, yet towns cannot While there may have been some reason for this a hundred years ago when the town law was created, there no longer exists any reason for this prohibition.

This legislation seeks to level the playing field and allow towns to establish town fire departments.

Legislative history

2011-12: S. 1492 Referred to Local Government 2009-10: S. 271 Referred to Local Government 2008: S. 4912-B 3rd Reading; A. 8982 Local Governments

Fiscal implications

None to the state

Local fiscal implications

To be determined

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.