[quote name='The Kid' post='68160' date='Jan 16 2007, 15:10 ']Thanks for the reply. I guess my biggest question is where is all of the tax revenue going? I would think that a city that is thriving and growing would generate a great tax base, and that public safety would benefit from this. This may be a rather simplistic way of looking at the issue. I do realize that state cutbacks have hit Massachusetts hard, but it just seems that Beverly's FD has been hit harder than other cities in the area. Am I wrong for having that perception? I get back to the area probably 2-3 times a year, (My parents still live on the North Shore) and have been amazed at the growth that has taken place since I last live there. I would think that with all of the growth that you mentioned, that there would be cash to add staffing and apparatus.[/quote]
The first thing that comes to my mind is how the schools take a HUGE chunk out of the budget. Beverly High has been on the verge of losing accreditation, and we are now facing the cost (tens of millions) of rebuilding the high school. Increasing health costs have also been a major burden to cities and towns. So when you put these factors together with cuts in state aid, it really ads up. But still even I am mystified, that with the tax base we have, that the money isn't there to keep Ladder 1 on the road.
As always the FD seems to be first on the chopping block. Other communites have faced cuts in recent years...Peabody Engine 1 is OOS much of the time. The same with Salem Engine 1, and most notably Lynn suffered large amounts of layoffs a couple of years ago. Engines 8, 11, Rescue 1 and the two BLS Ambulances were deactivated.
In the past when Centerville and Ryal Side were closed, then when Ladder 1 was put OOS much of the time, the citizens that were effected, along with the city council were quite concerned. But now it seems all have forgotten, at least until they need the FD's service, and then they have to wait for an engine from the other side of town that was tied up on a medical call.
The first thing that comes to my mind is how the schools take a HUGE chunk out of the budget. Beverly High has been on the verge of losing accreditation, and we are now facing the cost (tens of millions) of rebuilding the high school. Increasing health costs have also been a major burden to cities and towns. So when you put these factors together with cuts in state aid, it really ads up. But still even I am mystified, that with the tax base we have, that the money isn't there to keep Ladder 1 on the road.
As always the FD seems to be first on the chopping block. Other communites have faced cuts in recent years...Peabody Engine 1 is OOS much of the time. The same with Salem Engine 1, and most notably Lynn suffered large amounts of layoffs a couple of years ago. Engines 8, 11, Rescue 1 and the two BLS Ambulances were deactivated.
In the past when Centerville and Ryal Side were closed, then when Ladder 1 was put OOS much of the time, the citizens that were effected, along with the city council were quite concerned. But now it seems all have forgotten, at least until they need the FD's service, and then they have to wait for an engine from the other side of town that was tied up on a medical call.
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