Easton fire department rating could lower insurance rates

Oct. 28--The Easton fire department is getting better, so says a national insurance study, and its improvement might lower insurance rates for residents and businesses.

At the same time, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. says he'll find a way to add to more firefighters to the team, bringing the total compliment to 44.

During the first meeting to hash out the city's 2016 budget Tuesday night, Chief John Bast said the department's rating with the Insurance Services Office improved during an August evaluation from 4 to 3. That, Bast says, puts Easton's department in the top 6 percent nationwide.

"It means a possible reduction in the rate for homeowners insurance," Bast told the board members. "Businesses should definitely receive a reduction."

ISO analyzes fire departments' abilities to protect people in property, Bast said, evaluating the emergency call center, water systems and equipment. In the 1980s, the city's rating was 5, Bast said.

City officials, who met for the first time in the council chambers of the new city hall at 123 S. Third Street, are still trying to determine how big Bast's department will be. At the moment, 42 firefighters are working in the city. Two positions are open. One version of the budget eliminates them.

"I'm going to find a way to get two more firefighters," Panto said. The overall budget adds five positions to the city's overall employment rolls, Panto said, and he might favor pulling one or two of the proposed new jobs in the codes department to the fire department.

Budget discussions covered the city's revenue streams, which is projected to see increases in the overall earned-income tax revenue from both residents and commuters, even though the rates are proposed to remain the same.

Revenue from parking meters alone are supposed to reach $1 million, up from an expected $970,000 this year.

Also eliminated is about $16,000 in revenue from the neighboring borough of Glendon, which used to pay Easton's fire department for service. Officials from both cities couldn't agree on a fee, so the budget proposal assumes that money won't be there.

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