Hamilton’s big government fire service could be consolidated into a municipal fire department effective Jan. 1, 2019, but Mayor Kelly Yaede says the process could take much longer.
Hamilton Council introduced a pro-consolidation ordinance Tuesday that includes “a poison pill provision” that could delay the fire district dissolution process, Yaede said Tuesday in a statement, citing the concerns of Hamilton’s special attorney Richard M. Braslow.
“We are on the brink of providing a significant tax cut to Hamilton taxpayers by moving fire districts under the jurisdiction of the municipal government,” Yaede said, adding township taxpayers “will suffer by shouldering a higher cost for fire services than is necessary” if consolidation gets postponed over a provision that requires the township and firefighter unions to agree upon a labor contract before consolidation can take effect.
“Further delays will mean that individual fire districts will have to prepare their own budgets for 2019,” the Republican mayor said, “rather than the municipal government being afforded the opportunity to ensure that consolidation achieves greater efficiencies and greater cost savings.”