Newburg’s no-increase contract causes pinch for Saukville department, too

The Saukville Fire Department is feeling the ripple effect of the Town of Saukville’s hard-line stand on its fire contract.

The Newburg Fire Department is the lead agency in providing fire protection to the township, but that department contracts with three other local fire departments to protect different sections of the town.

This summer, the Newburg department a no-increase fire contract for 2013, followed by a 2% in 2014 and 3% in 2015.

The department’s 2012 fire contract was for $170,000, and a 4% increase was originally proposed for the next contract.

Town of Saukville officials countered that the local tax situation was too uncertain to commit to more than a no-increase contract for 2013.

Although that stand was directed to the Newburg Fire Department, Saukville Fire Chief Gilly Schultz recently told Village of Saukville officials that it has financial fallout for his department, too.

As a subcontractor with Newburg, the Saukville department is paid to provide fire protection for essentially the eastern half of the township.

In addition to Newburg, the town also received fire protection from the Fredonia and Waubeka fire departments.

Unable to increase its charge to cover rising expenses, the Saukville department got approval from the Village Board this week to renew its service contract with the town at its current rate.

The contract calls for the Newburg department to make payments of $42,398 to the Saukville department in January and August.

“There’s not much we can do. This is the number they gave us,” Fire Chief Gilly Schultz told village officials.

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