The chief of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District wants permission to rent the house it recently purchased for $3.2 million to a district employee in exchange for a $3,000 per month reduction in the employee's salary.
Under this plan, the employee's taxable income would drop by $3,000 and pension benefits would be based on the reduced salary.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 2110 Valparaiso Ave., next door to the district's Alameda de las Pulgas fire station, had been listed for lease at $6,000 per month when the district began negotiating for its purchase.
Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said the land on which the house is located is needed for the district to build a larger station sometime in the near future.