This coming Town Board meeting is heating up to be an inferno of controversy. On the agenda is the proposal to establish charges for the fire department’s responses. The “Run Fee” policy proposal tentatively has amounts ranging from $300.00 to $400.00 penciled in for ALL RESPONSES. (fires or rescue….in town or out). The fire hydrant issue has been a hot topic for quite some time and this should only add more fuel to the fire.
Because of the hydrant issue our ISO rating, that many property insurances are based on, was sitting at an 8. That undesirable ISO rating may be causing your insurance premiums to be as much as 35% to 40% higher. The ISO rating is not solely tied to the fire hydrants. However, the flow rate of these hydrants could impact the rating. If our ISO rating were to be improved to a better class, a policy holder could see substantial savings in their annual premium. Because of the disrepair of the hydrants we may loose our good ISO rate an soon may be paying higher property insurance premiums.
Because of the hydrant issue our ISO rating, that many property insurances are based on, was sitting at an 8. That undesirable ISO rating may be causing your insurance premiums to be as much as 35% to 40% higher. The ISO rating is not solely tied to the fire hydrants. However, the flow rate of these hydrants could impact the rating. If our ISO rating were to be improved to a better class, a policy holder could see substantial savings in their annual premium. Because of the disrepair of the hydrants we may loose our good ISO rate an soon may be paying higher property insurance premiums.
UPDATE: The ISO rating for Buffalo has within the last year been up graded to a 6 from an 8. Because of this new ISO rating, a sample insurance rate for a 4 bedroom house in Buffalo, the premium was reduced by 27%. A policy that used to cost $1330 per year dropped to $971. That is a saving of $359 per year on this example!!
Now our elected officials may be so proud of our fire suppressing system they may think it is fitting to charge us a fee for a response. If you don’t have all of your property insured and you can’t pay the fee what happens next. Could they put the response fee on your property taxes? If you couldn't’t pay the $300 to $400 response fee how can you pay the extra amount on your property taxes? Could the municipal government then get a tax deed on your property because you couldn't’t pay your response fee? You betcha!!
What are we getting for our city sales taxes and monthly municipal bills? The town of Buffalo has the highest possible sales tax rate in the state. The town of Buffalo has year after year carried over moneys from the previous year’s budget into the next fiscal year only to have that extra money put into CD’s. Would it have been nice if the money would have been put into the fire suppression system that we have in place to better our ISO ratings? Would it have been nice to get a break on our insurance premiums before we get scorched by the flames of these response fees? Update: Not all insurance companies have the new ISO ratings in their database and many policies may not have had their premiums adjusted, that is if they use the ISO rating at all.
And what about those who can’t afford to insure their properties? They are not going to call the fire department for help when they know they will get burned again with a bill from the town. Will people be endangering their lives and property because they know how hard it is, in this economic downturn, to keep a loaf of bread on the table let alone shell out 3 to 4 hundred bucks for a response fee?
Now our elected officials may be so proud of our fire suppressing system they may think it is fitting to charge us a fee for a response. If you don’t have all of your property insured and you can’t pay the fee what happens next. Could they put the response fee on your property taxes? If you couldn't’t pay the $300 to $400 response fee how can you pay the extra amount on your property taxes? Could the municipal government then get a tax deed on your property because you couldn't’t pay your response fee? You betcha!!
What are we getting for our city sales taxes and monthly municipal bills? The town of Buffalo has the highest possible sales tax rate in the state. The town of Buffalo has year after year carried over moneys from the previous year’s budget into the next fiscal year only to have that extra money put into CD’s. Would it have been nice if the money would have been put into the fire suppression system that we have in place to better our ISO ratings? Would it have been nice to get a break on our insurance premiums before we get scorched by the flames of these response fees? Update: Not all insurance companies have the new ISO ratings in their database and many policies may not have had their premiums adjusted, that is if they use the ISO rating at all.
And what about those who can’t afford to insure their properties? They are not going to call the fire department for help when they know they will get burned again with a bill from the town. Will people be endangering their lives and property because they know how hard it is, in this economic downturn, to keep a loaf of bread on the table let alone shell out 3 to 4 hundred bucks for a response fee?
"Honey! Run and get garden hose drug into kitchen...Skillet caught fire again!"
"Hurry every chance you get... don't want the firemen to get here first" "Can't afford Em".
Maintain the new ISO rating before setting run fees! Continue to keep the ISO rating to help us save money on our insurance premiums! Then maybe you will get more money from people pledging that savings to the Buffalo Fireman’s Association than the fees you want to charge the taxpayers of the community.
Maintain the new ISO rating before setting run fees! Continue to keep the ISO rating to help us save money on our insurance premiums! Then maybe you will get more money from people pledging that savings to the Buffalo Fireman’s Association than the fees you want to charge the taxpayers of the community.
