FIRE DEPT- Fiscal responsibility for our town.

With property taxes rising we MUST find ways to save. To begin with, our Fire Department is a HUGE tax burden. For the amount of work they do, the sky high salary and benefit base is unjustified. SFD is a very slow Dept, they pay a "civilian" a part-time salary to perform fire inspections in our town. This is a function that could be handled by the already on duty crew. The Chief driving a take home vehicle that is excessive and expensive. Converting the department to part-time will save our town MILLIONS in tax dollars while achieving the same if not better safety coverage. Compare what our Dept does on a daily basis to other towns. They are slower and do less work then surrounding towns. Our First Aid Squad responds to ALL medical emergencies on the same highways for no tax burden on our residents. SFD only responds to calls that are deemed Advanced in nature (ie chest pain, trouble breathing). How does this make sense?