[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Easton
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-28-2003; amended 3-19-2012]
The Town of Easton adopts this article establishing incentive
plans for volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical service
personnel for the purpose of encouraging volunteerism in the Easton
Volunteer Fire Department and the Easton Volunteer Emergency Medical
Service and to provide an honorarium for those volunteers who give
of their time to provide public safety services.
[Amended 9-15-2014]
Any volunteer firefighter or EMS volunteer is entitled to an
honorarium up to the amount of $1,000 per fiscal year, provided that
such volunteer satisfies the requirements set forth in the incentive
plan of the respective organization. "Incentive plan" shall mean the
plan developed and approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners (hereinafter
referred to as the "Commission") for volunteer firefighters and the
plan developed and approved by the EMS Commission for volunteer EMS
personnel, as both such plans are also approved by the Board of Finance.
Each plan shall detail the requirements to be met in order for a volunteer
to be eligible to receive all or a portion of the honorarium. Eligibility
will be based upon certification, participation and training. A volunteer
in both organizations may receive an honorarium from each organization
to a maximum of $2,000 if the volunteer qualifies under each organization's
incentive plan. Qualification shall, however, be independent for each
organization, in that attendance at a single incident shall not count
both as a volunteer for the Fire Department and as a volunteer for
the EMS. The honorarium will be prorated for a volunteer who serves
for less than a full calendar year.
In addition to the amount stipulated in the above section, each of the Commissions is authorized to offer an additional $500 to volunteers who earn the maximum honorarium as defined in § 86-2 and who work a substantial portion of their hours during difficult to cover time periods. The incentive plan developed by each of the Commissions will stipulate those time periods that are considered difficult to cover and the number of hours or calls which must be worked in order to earn the additional honorarium. The stipulations of § 86-2 applying to volunteers who serve both the EMS and fire services shall also apply to this additional honorarium.
[Amended 9-15-2014]
Participation shall be measured on a calendar year basis. A
request for an appropriation in the amount sufficient to fund the
program for each calendar year for each organization shall be made
to the Board of Finance so that payment for the preceding calendar
year may be made by August 1 of the succeeding fiscal year.
The initial incentive plan for each organization is on file
with the Town Clerk. The incentive plan of each organization may be
amended by the organization's Commission with the approval of
the Board of Finance, provided that no amendment shall affect any
provision of this article, and in the event of any conflict between
any amended plan and this article, this article shall control.
Any dispute concerning the application of a plan to a volunteer
shall be submitted to and determined by the organization's Commission
with the right of appeal to the Board of Selectmen, whose decision
shall be final.
No later than September 15 of every third year commencing 2007,
or more frequently at the discretion of the Board of Selectmen, the
Board of Selectmen shall appoint a committee of not fewer than five
resident taxpayers of the Town which will undertake and complete,
within 60 days following such appointment, or such longer time as
the Board of Selectmen shall authorize, a study and investigation
with respect to honoraria for volunteer firefighters and volunteer
EMS personnel, and the committee shall prepare a report to the Board
of Selectmen which report shall include the following:
After receiving the report from the committee, the Board of
Selectmen shall provide such comments on the recommendations as it
deems appropriate. The committee shall consider the comments of the
Board of Selectmen and shall, to the extent deemed necessary and appropriate
by the committee, present revised recommendations to the Board of
Selectmen. At its discretion, the Board of Selectmen may forward the
committee report to the Board of Finance. After receiving the report
from the committee, the Board of Finance shall provide such comments
on the recommendations as it deems appropriate. The committee shall
consider the comments of the Board of Finance and shall, to the extent
deemed necessary and appropriate by the committee, present revised
recommendations to the Board of Finance. When the Board of Finance
is satisfied with the recommendations of the committee, the Board
of Finance shall recommend the ordinance for adoption by the Town
at a Town Meeting to be scheduled by the Board of Selectmen. The Town
Meeting shall, by a majority vote, approve or reject, but not amend,
the recommended ordinance. If approved, the ordinance shall remain
in effect until such time as a new recommended ordinance is approved
by the Town Meeting. If rejected, a new committee, which may but need
not contain members of the preceding committee, shall be convened.
Until such time as a new ordinance shall be adopted by the Town Meeting,
the then current ordinance will remain in effect.
This article may, but need not, be amended and restated in its
entirety in the future. It shall be sufficient to submit as an amendment
to this article the provisions of the recommended ordinance.
The honoraria provided pursuant to this article shall be free
from federal and state taxation to the extent permitted by law.
The recipient of an honorarium under this article may choose
to receive up to $1,000 of it in the form of a tax abatement. Any
remaining amount of the honorarium will be issued in the form of a
cash stipend.
In accordance with § 7-157 of the Connecticut General
Statutes, this article, upon its adoption, shall become effective
30 days after publication and shall provide for a payment commencing
in fiscal year 2012-2013 for services during calendar year 2011 and
for subsequent years in accordance with this article.
