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The Bruce-Romeo Fire Department serves Bruce Township and is contracted to serve the village of Romeo. The contract between the two was created in 1999, shortly after the Bruce Township Fire Department absorbed the Romeo Fire Department.

The contract provides that Romeo pay Bruce Township a base rate plus an increase based on the Consumer Price Index each year.

The amount paid by the village has increased during the last decade from approximately $280,000 to approximately $350,000 this year.

The fire department also collects money from insurance companies for making medical runs into the village.

The contract states that any amount collected by the fire department exceeding $80,000 will be reimbursed to the village.

Concerns over the fire department’s ability to serve the village based on the current contract were raised by Bruce-Romeo Fire Chief Floyd Shotwell as he said costs continue to rise for his department.

“Either we make some changes, they (Romeo) come around or there will be some changes made for them,” he said. “We’re not threatening them; we just can’t afford to do this.”

A committee from the village met with Bruce Township officials and Shotwell twice to discuss the contract. At the second meeting, the village agreed to raise the cap to $95,000 with additional increases to the cap every year based on the Consumer Price Index.

The village asked for the stipulation that the department keep the fire hall within the village limits manned in return.

An agreement was seemingly made and the change to the contract was approved by the Romeo Village Council at its Aug. 18 meeting.

However, the changes were not approved in Bruce Township the following Wednesday.

Bruce officials had an additional meeting the morning of Aug. 27 and decided to send a letter to the village.

“They have sent (Romeo) a letter and told them that a new contract will have to be negotiated by 2011 or, if we don’t make some changes, then we would no longer be providing them service,” said Shotwell. “We hope that doesn’t happen, but we can’t continue at this rate. Either we have to get some changes made or we have to get out of there.”

Shotwell said the agreements made during the meeting with Romeo officials would not work.

“At that meeting, after they suggested raising the cap to $95,000 for collection in medical insurance, they wanted a guarantee of keeping the station open permanently. That is impossible,” he said. “It costs about $13,000 a year to maintain the station. That is an older building. I cannot guarantee that. The raise to $95,000 plus the CPI, that is not going to get it.”

“We approved everything he asked for,” said Romeo Village Clerk Marian McLaughlin. “We understand they have costs.”

McLaughlin said one of the reasons they were hesitant to raise the cap in the first place was the apparent cost per run being paid by the village.

In the numbers from 2007, the average cost of an ALS run is $729.

McLaughlin said in 2007 Bruce collected a total of $430,344 from village payments and collected insurance, and the total number of runs was 420.

McLaughlin said by dividing the total cost from the number of runs to the village, Romeo is paying approximately $1,024 per run.

Shotwell said these numbers are misleading.

“What we do is took the number of runs for Bruce Township and the total cost the township is paying. We did the same thing in Romeo - took the runs in the village, divided into what they are paying and it came out to about half. They are receiving the same service for about half the cost.”

Bruce Township officials have also expressed concern that the village has not paid the approximate $350,000 it owes. The due date for the money was Aug. 15.

McLaughlin said there were two difficulties this year in paying on time: having to pay Ford Motor Company from last year’s settlement and the last day for taxes being Sept. 15.

“This is our first year late on the payments and it has to do with the Ford debt,” she said.

McLaughlin said she planned to pay approximately $50,000 last week and the other $300,000 this week.

Bruce Township recently approved the fire budget for 2009-10 at $777,758 and the ALS budget at $1,040,301.

In 1999, the fire department budget was approximately $415,000 and the ALS budget was approximately $551,000.

“Bruce Township residents are paying their fair share,” said Shotwell. “We have not got our fair share out of Romeo.”