The Cumberland Fire Department is better off today as one combined district than it was years ago as four separate ones, say some fire officials, and they contend that financial numbers prove it.
District Finance Director Diane Karolyshyn, at a June 26 meeting to update Fire Board members, said her in-depth analysis of the four separate districts and the combined district, with 4-percent average tax rate increases built in for each over the past four years, adds up to a merger savings of about $3.73 million.
But Commissioners Paul Santoro and Jim Scullin disputed that the district is in a good position, Santoro saying the numbers presented by Karolyshyn and former Chairman Bruce Lemois were “pie in the sky."