After months of speculation, the rivalry between Montclair and Bloomfield to win the fire services contract ended Monday night when Glen Ridge awarded its coveted 10-year fire protection contract to Montclair. Montclair’s bid included an incentive bonus — knocking $200,000 off the current contract, which goes to the end of 2012.  Both town councils have approved the terms of the contract, which is expected to be announced formally on Friday. The total amount of the contract was not made public.

Glen Ridge Mayor Peter Hughes said the negotiations were orchestrated with the idea of maintaing good relationships with both neighbors, but he said  he warned Bloomfield from the beginning that a tie would go to Montclair, which has been providing service for two decades. “We told them [Bloomfield], you’ve got to knock them off the block.”

He said that during the qualification round, Glen Ridge visited all the fire houses in Bloomfield, met all the fire chiefs and battalion commanders. “Both departments were extremely capable,” he said. “It came down to price.” He said the final bids were submitted in sealed envelopes with town managers present.

But Mayor Raymond McCarthy told Bloomfield life that he thinks Montclair got a sneak peak at Montclair’s Bloomfield’s final bid. Hughes pointed out that the meeting with the sealed envelopes made any cheating impossible.

“He’s very disappointed,” Hughes said of McCarthy. “They put it in an excellent bid. The town that got the award was the one that wanted it the most.”

“This has been a long, drawn-out, tough battle,” Montclair Fire Chief Kevin Allen told the Montclair Council last night. “We had competition this year from Bloomfield, we overcame that, and we have another 10 years to look forward to serving Glen Ridge and the fire department is very proud of that.”

73 replies on “And the Winner is … Montclair”

  1. I think you meant to write:
    “But Mayor Raymond McCarthy told Bloomfield life that he thinks Montclair got a sneak peak at <> final bid.
    Also, in the spirit of Oscarly political correctness, the headline should read:
    “And the contract goes to…”

  6. I think I’d actually call the winner Glen Ridge.

    Instead of paying $971k this year, they will only pay $771k. For the next 4 years they only pay $625k. Even at the end of the 10 year contract, they will only pay $925k, which is less than this year’s payment was supposed to be. I highly doubt Montclair’s cost of paying for fire services is actually decreasing, so it looks like Glen Ridge will be getting the same service for a much lower percentage of the total bill.

    ‘Tuesday the council unanimously approved two resolutions regarding renewal of the Montclair’s inter-local contract to provide fire services to Glen Ridge. First, the council amended its current 10-year contract, which expires the end of this year, so that Glen Ridge will only pay $771,000 this year, instead of the $971,000 dictated in the pact.

    “That’s the incentive bonus to them,” Dashield said after the meeting.

    Then the council authorized Dashield to enter into a new 10-year contract with Glen Ridge. He told The Times that under the new shared-services agreement, Glen Ridge will pay $625,000 a year to Montclair for the first four years of the contract, escalating to $925,000 by the last year of the pact.

    Montclair faced stiff competition from Bloomfield, which was also vying to provide fire services to Glen Ridge. That’s why Montclair had to give Glen Ridge a new deal starting at $625,000, instead of the $971,000 in the old contract, according to Dashield.

    “This was the final year of the contract, so in sweetening the pot, in order to have a long-term agreement in place, we were able to discount this year’s obligation,” Deputy Mayor Kathryn Weller-Demming said.

    Dashield explained, “The bottom line is this when you look at this contract: We had to compete. That drives the price down. ‘

    https://www.northjersey.com/topstories/montclair/138023523_Montclair_to_give_Glen_Ridge__200_000__bonus__to_sign_new_fire_services_pact.html

  7. Yup…I’m a big supporter of regionalization and shared services, but only when MY town get’s YOUR town to pay for them.

  14. If Montclair’s FD has the capacity to accept responsibility for Glen Ridge fire protection without adding staff, then collecting another $625,000 a year would seem like a good thing.

  15. “If Montclair’s FD has the capacity to accept responsibility for Glen Ridge fire protection without adding staff,”

    If we can add 2500 more homes coverage (23% added to our own) without cost then the fire department is too large and should be downsized 23%.

    2500/11000

  16. Paolo,

    Realistically, the Montclair FD is $625,000 too big. Sadly, for the last nine years it was $1,000,000 too big.

    There, I said it.

    I’m hoping Glen Ridge outsources it’s police force next. Maybe the library too?

    See where I’m going with this?

    Perhaps Montclair should take a look at what Glen Ridge is doing to run such a successful school system for $2,000 less cost per student?

    Nah…We’ve got Chinese cultural exchanges to explore and bike locker requirements to establish.

  17. And also remember, Montclair just sweetened this year’s previously contracted payment by $200k. Montclair is now down another $200k in this year’s budget, which will either result in a decrease of services or an increase to taxes for the taxpayers of Montclair.

  19. Clearly the solution is for the state or the feds to take over fire services.

    Or perhaps we should disband our fire dept and buy services from Bloomfield for 250 a pop.

  20. It’s very hard to fight the impression that Glen Ridge was only using Bloomfield’s bid only to get a better price from Montclair.

    In future, when shared services becomes inevitable, Bloomfield’s leadership must keep in mind that Glen Ridge will almost always lean toward Montclair because of a shared sense of suburban identity. Even if all other things are equal, Bloomfield’s urban bits scare them so the default will always be Montclair.

  21. What GR has done well is fence itself off economically from its neighbors. Keep a school disctrict small with a well healed citizenry–easy peasy.

  22. Montclair is on the wrong side of outsourcing.

    Instead of outsourcing trash/recycling (where there are lots of nimble competitors), we do it in-house for twice the cost.

    But we become an outsourcer for Fire services, where we have limited control over our staffing due to union contracts. I believe our LIFO (last-in-first-out) requirements would make it hard for us to lay off the higher level employees. So if we lose the contract, we lay people off and end up with an even more top-heavy organization than we already have. Not exactly a strong negotiating position for Montclair.

    So much for that argument we hear all the time when people talk about outsourcing trash: After the first contract the price will skyrocket! The town we lived in previously had privatized trash/recycling. The service was excellent – i was shocked when i first moved here and saw the trash guys literally hurling my cans across the street – and the price didn’t budge the entire 7 years we lived there.

    And the other argument: we don’t want to lay people off. Outsource trash/recycling and offer jobs to the new Montclair Parking Utility. Manage it well and actually bring in revenue from parking.

    Cary, please do not let the TC sign a long-term deal with the PA to renew their contract!!!! This is an opportunity for Montclair to make smart, cost-effective choices.

  23. Glen Ridge split from Blmfld in 1895 because it wasn’t getting the services it needed. Mtc & Blmfld will just play us back & forth like a ping pong ball. Will just get jacked up everytime a new contract comes due. Shared services? Phooey!

  24. Actually, Montclair should consider getting trash/recycling services from GR, which does a superb job.

  25. Paz, I’m not sure I understand your argument. I see no evidence of prices getting jacked up. GR got a significant price cut.

  26. “Montclair has approx. 11, 000 homes; Glen Ridge has 2500 homes. So our cost is $818 per home per year. At $625k billed to Glen Ridge, they pay $250 per year per home. We’re “selling” what costs us $818 for $250.”

    Not if Montclair only sends rookies to Glen Ridge fires…

  27. “Mtc & Blmfld will just play us back & forth like a ping pong ball.”

    Paz, I think Glen Ridge is the one holding the paddle.

  28. ROC, your logic only works if Montclair would downsize their fire department without the Glen Ridge contract. If they’ve determined they need the current staffing levels to handle the number of houses in Montclair, then anything GR pays defrays the cost.

  30. ROC, you could also look at the numbers inclusive of GR & MTC to say 13,500 folks get covered at about $9.625 mil which is $713 per household. So Montclair’s costs dropped about $115 per household.

  31. Kit…Who makes that determination?

    I know that it was the director of DCS that made the call that outsourcing wouldn’t be cost effective.

    And how’s that RFP coming along Marc?

    What a joke.

  32. The staffing levels is a big issue, but what about the pay the firemen are getting? I hear it is very generous. When they get raises or increases for promotions, can we share this with Glen Ridge? Probably not.

    Lets talk to Great Notch and Verona and see if we can learn how to go to a partial volunteer/paid system.

  33. If there are 11,000 homes in town. Assume there needs to be 15 people on call at all hours and make 2 shifts per day for coverage. That equals 1 12 hour shift per year per household. I’m just looking at the numbers. Obviously not all households can provide an adequate person.

  34. Verona and Cedar Grove are not part paid.

    Stu and everyone else…
    First, the money from GR does NOT go into the fire dept budget. It goes to a general fund for the township and is spread through the depts.

    The size if the MFD is what it would be with or without GR. The only cost the MFD incurs to provide GR with fire service is diesel fuel. Say it’s $6000 per year… The township clears the rest. It’s the best deal going and all you uninformed knuckleheads keep spreading inaccurate false statements. You can’t break it down by household, doesn’t taint an accurate picture. If u didn’t get this contract and lost all the revenue from GR, make up in your taxes or cut. And as I said, not one firefighter, piece of equipment, fire truck was added for GR. the makeup, size, landscape of Montclair requires what the FD has and more. Mansions, high rises, hospital, trains, major university, residential, urban… Most towns aren’t as diverse as this one is. Be happy you have a good FD and a cake deal with gr. you essentially get, now, $700k for nothing. It cost the town nothing and makes you safer and taxes lower. Eat it.

  36. So I guess it’s a win/win somehow (although I’d still argue that GR wins more). Perhaps Montclair should consider merging their FD with Bloomfield since both apparently have similar capabilities?

    Nah…better to pay for additional chiefs.

  37. taint – Can you show everyone the numbers as to why Montclair would still need the same level of staffing to cover only Montclair versus the additional 2,000+ homes in Glen Ridge?

    This actually reminds me of something that came up during the BOE budget meetings last year in regards to educating out-of-district special needs students. The working committee that studied this issue made the case that Montclair was charging far too little to educate the kids it was taking from out of district…that the BOE was basically only looking to recoup it’s marginal costs rather than charge closer to market rate to return a profit for providing the service.

  38. The real question is: why is Montclair subsidizing Glen Ridge’s fire service? I don’t buy the argument that we have the same staffing requirements if we reduce the number of households/residents by 23%. Maybe the FD people who say that have a vested interest in saying that. Maybe we don’t have the right person in charge, who can think about efficiency instead of just building a fiefdom and protecting the status quo.

    If we let Bloomfield subsidize GR instead, maybe we can close the small station on Walnut. Bay Street and Upper Montclair seem well-situated to reach any spot in the town. Then we can decrease staffing, equipment, and facility costs. Keep the equipment we need for the high-rises, etc., but cut out the costs associated with supporting an extra station.

    Also, the detailed 2011 budget lists ‘$727,000 for Glen Ridge Fire salary and wages’, ‘$224,000 for Glen Ridge Fire Overhead’. Plus, GR won’t be paying for the long-term cost of these employees — pension and lifetime healthcare.

  40. Jinx….”subsidize”? Don’t think our GR town fathers would like that word. Maybe we should look to Blmfld before the good citizens of Montclair believe we should be jacked up.

  41. Jinx,

    Your proving my point about the innaccurate uninformed crap people post…. Walnut street fire house has been closed since 2004. Good job.

    Maybe we should move the police headquarters to bloomfield ave and valley rd. I think that might help.

  42. ROC, it’s worse than you think. The $9 million is just salaries and other direct costs. Benefits for fire personnel are separately budgeted–that’s another $2.5 million or so. Then, if one were a magician, you could figure the amount of debt service attributable to the Pine St. fire complex and past equipment purchases. My guess is that the all-in cost of our fire department is $12+ million.

    Chief Allen in a televised budget hearing testified that Glen Ridge represents 15-20% of fire calls. On an average costing basis, then, Glen Ridge’s fair share of cost is more like $2.5 million. That’s probably in the ballpark of what it would cost Glen Ridge to have their own capability.

    But folks fairly point out that marginal costing, not average cost, should be the basis for pricing. The problem is that those same folks say our fire department was right-sized before the Glen Ridge deal, and is right-sized after the deal despite a 15-20% increase in activity. A little extra fuel is our only marginal cost. You can’t have it both ways.

    The town could greatly benefit from some basic financial analysis on many fronts, the Glen Ridge deal being just the latest example.

    Harvey Susswein

  43. a horse? Now that’s flattering. It could have been much worse though, I suppose. You could have called this annoying man a marsupial.

  44. Wow, I thought this was a good thing for the town. Instead of seeing this as a win for the town it turns into public employee bashing session. 20 years ago when Montclair took over Glenridge the Fire dept staffing was to increase by 4 F/Fs. that never happened, infact the staffing level has decreased. If the staffing level were to be any lower then it is now the town’s insurance would increase. The Police and Fire Dept. put their lives on the line for everyone in this town day and night, weekends and holidays and in good and bad weather without complaint. If you never need the Fire dept. for a fire, water pouring through your ceiling, extricating you from a MVA, mitagating electrical hazards in your home and countless other things consider yourself lucky. By the way the only people paying into the police and fire pension for the last 15 to 20 years are police and fire men/women.

  45. grewupinmtc – I’m not bashing public employees. I’m questioning whether or not Montclair is charging a fair amount for the services that it is providing to Glen Ridge. To me, this contract seems like a pretty sweet deal for Glen Ridge subsidized by the taxpayers of Montclair.

  46. Back it up grewupinmtc. Your anger is misdirected.
    Montclairions are paying the full, non-discounted rate for your fire services. If you want to get pissed at someone, look to GR who feel your services are only worth 25 cents on the dollar.

  48. Perhaps before closing fire stations, looking for volunteer services, or determining staffing levels, those posters should actually go and spend some time at the fire department. Learn what is required, why things are done and what is needed to perform those services. Otherwise, the only exercise you’re performing is inserting your foot in the mouth routine.
    Sadly, I doubt you will.

  49. I agree Mtcff.

    Harvey, you’re running for council. How many Engines does MFD have? trucks? What are their functions.

    Staffing… How many firefighters ride on each? Why? What are their duties at a fire? Car accident? Etc.

    What does the first engine do? 2nd?

    Obviously, there is no need for you to know all of this, however, if you did you would realize that the FD is undermanned and you would probably appreciate what they do a little more. It’s not all dollars and cents.

  50. Also, Harvey, I believe it was your public comments last year and those of the ccm and/or OBAC that prompted Bloomfield to jump into the mix.

    Bloomfield got involved and drove the price down. The gr contract is a model throughout the state. Mayors wish they had it, and all the residents of Montclair can do is find things to complain about.

  52. I think GR deserves a little more credit than this. Do you really think they’d open another 10 year contract without trying to talk Montclair down? Unlike Montclair, when times are tough, they seem to grasp that costs have to come down and they actually seem to make a plan, execute and hey, succeed!

  53. if we slip Montclair a few extra bucks, can’t we get the GR name & logo on all the trucks? I think that would quiet Taint’s nerves.

  54. Hey, no disrespect to the many firemen in Montclair! Everyone knows they are good people doing great work! It is no surprise GR went with the Montclair firefighters. If I were in charge over there, I would have too. Even if there was no bonus.

    It is the lack of managing on the township Management’s part, or the part of the management here before them.

  55. Agree sohobound. No disrespect to either GR or MTC firefighters. Both are doing their jobs well. It’s the Montclair TC and Town Manager that are being criticized here.

  56. “Obviously, there is no need for you to know all of this, however, if you did you would realize that the FD is undermanned and you would probably appreciate what they do a little more. It’s not all dollars and cents.”

    To maintain that adding 23% more coverage responsibility has no added cost beggars belief. If it has no cost then the fire department is overbuilt.

    I think there is an added cost. Just no one want’s to admit it (or even figure it out) because then the financial equation is likely a net looser for Montclair.

    Something tells me that if Montclair were suddenly to annex Glen Ridge and management were to maintain the Fire Department would not need to be increased whatsoever, firefighters would have a different opinion.

  57. I believe in 1990 when Mtc first took over gr, they were supposed to increase staffing by 4 fighters. At that time I believe mfd was at 91 personnel. They didn’t put on the four and the FD was not happy with it. Since then, the staffing has dwindled to the current level of 79. However the duties remain the same and the town continues to grow and develop. Look at the landscape then and look at it now. Condos, 5 and 7 story high rises, msu has probably doubled its enrollment and built new buildings all over, etc. you cannot in one hand develop and build more and more and then on the other hand cut all your public safety. It’s irresponsible. The FD answers roughly 2700 calls a year. Police are also down.

  58. So then tell me again taint, how adding 23% more homes for a small sum will make it better. Your argument is at cross-purposes and self-conflicting.

  59. Roc I read alot of your posts and usually agree with you. I just don’t think you get this. Just like the “private sector” we have to do more with less. If that means keeping our staffing level the same and increasing our work load by 23% to keep people from being laid off then we will do it. Paying more into our health benefits to save jobs then we’ll do it. The real money and safety issue that should concern the people of montclair is the number of times the FD responds to mutual aid in other towns. Just yesterday an Engine co. went to West Orange for a fire and a truck co. went to Clifton for a fire futher reducing the staffing of the FD. Glenridge is 99% single family homes, there is no extra/special training needed to cover Glenridge.

  60. i guess I work in a different private sector. If I can increase the work load on employees who are eligible for overtime 23% without cost, then that tells me I was not operating efficiently

  61. Roc I work in the “private sector” too for a major company. One cannot raise a family on a F/F’s pay alone (just about every F/F has to work on the side to make ends meet). I see waste and inefficiency throughout the private company I work for. That 23% increase in work doesn’t cost the town anything, infact the town makes money. The major reason for overtime is our Gov. pushed guys into retirement before their time.

  62. Wouldn’t this be easy to understand if we knew how many Glen Ridge calls the Montclair Fire department responds to on a regular basis. I would suspect that is there were few (say under one a month) then it is likely that it could be done with no imapct to our cost. If there were many (say one a week or more) than that would seem unlikely.

  63. grewup,

    “One cannot raise a family on a F/F’s pay alone”

    Most families do not have only 1 income! I certainly do not know of any of my neighbors, NONE, that live on 1 salary.

    Also, please read this article about Bloomfield Firefighters.

    https://www.northjersey.com/news/120677749_Bloomfield_Administrator__Firefighters__salaries_are_too_high.html

    I know many people who live quite well on less than what most of the firefighters in Bloomfield take home yearly! 70 over $100K. If you can’t live on 100K theres a problem!

    An analysis by the township of the 78 full time firefighters Bloomfield revealed that:

    • Six firefighters had made a base pay under $90,000;

    • With overtime and acting officer pay factored in, eight made under $100,000, 70 made over $100,000;

    • The lowest paid firefighter made slightly over $83,000;

  64. I’ll bet Bloomfield could save a fortune turning it all over to us for a few hundred grand. And we can just absorb the extra work and there will be no added cost to us, so everyone wins!

  65. ROC,

    I suspect you have no idea on the inner workings of the fire department. Looking at “numbers” and drawing a conclusion, without learning the dynamics behind those numbers, is an assumption of how you “think things” are. We all know what happens when one “assumes”.
    Just because we only turn the heat on in our homes five or six months a year, doesn’t mean buying a furnace is a waste of money. Or perhaps since I mow my lawn only once a week, doesn’t mean I should be doing it with scissors. I’m only going to tile half my floor, since buying an extra box will leave me with an extra piece. I’m going to eat out every night, since hamburger buns come in an eight pack, and it’s just me eating. Maybe hospital emergency rooms should send doctors and nurses home between patients. It might be hours before the next person arrives and we can’t have them just standing around being inefficient.
    Yes, this all sounds really foolish but perhaps people should come and “EDUCATE” themselves about the fire department. Not just Montclair, but visit others too, and then make an informed decision at least, as to whether the MFD is 23% is, as you say, is an indication of inefficiency.

  66. “Just because we only turn the heat on in our homes five or six months a year, doesn’t mean buying a furnace is a waste of money. ”

    Though I’ll bet if I run the furnace 23% more than 6 months. It will cost me more.

  67. ” Though I’ll bet if I run the furnace 23% more than 6 months. It will cost me more.”

    You are correct, it will cost more, but it doesn’t mean the furnace is inefficient. The major components of the heating system are already in place. You’re simply just turning it on more often. Yes, you are using additional fuel and having to maintain the system more, but the “nuts & bolts” are already there.

    If residents are not happy with price of the contract, in comparing it to a “per household” cost, that’s a different discussion. It does not translate into inefficiency, etc. on the fire department’s behalf.

  68. I am tired of people like ROC that don’t have a clue about what they are talking about. You’re commenting about a job that you have no knowledge of, and if you did, you would stop and actually thank the people the put their lives on the line for ill informed people like yourself.

    You keep complaining about the size of the FD. With your argument if the town is smaller they just need less FF’s and less equipment. Then I guess very small towns can just have 1 engine and 1 FF, of course not, that would be ridicules!. The same applies to Montclair; there is a critical mass that is needed to do basic firefighting tasks effectively and safely. The MFD is already below that number and has continued to do the job with less. Any additional cuts of manpower or equipment would have direct effects to the taxpayer, like having your homeowners insurance rates go up. The insurance rating organizations would rerate the town based on a smaller less effective FD, your individual savings would go out the window! besides making the citizens less safe.

    There have been several independent outside studies over the past 20 years of the MFD and all concluded the same. They are undermanned by 10 to 15 FF without GR. and that does not even take into account the enormous growth of Montclair. But again I guess you know more than then the experts that conducted the studies.

    Most people on this site complain about the cost of the FD and how much is costs each taxpayer, again you are all ill informed. The actual cost to each homeowner is about $500 per year; everyone forgets to factor in what the businesses pay in taxes which lowers the homeowners cost. I bet you pay more than that for your cell phone bill, so I would say you are getting a bargain. You all get to go about you lives without worrying about your family’s safety, knowing that there is someone there 24/7 to help you in your time of need. You should pray that you never really need the FD or PD, but if you do, they will be there to save you regardless of how misguided and ill informed you are.

    Also most people out there don’t realize how much the FF have already sacrificed for the citizens of both towns. Every FF agreed to a substantial pay decrease in 2011 to keep FF’s from getting laid off. (about $4000 per FF in total give backs) They could have easily not given anything back and let the FD get cut. That would have meant that the citizens’ safety would have been at risk. As mentioned before you need a minimum number of FF to do the job. But they did not do that, they took the cut along with paying more for there pensions and health insurance for a total pay cut of about $8000. I bet most of you did not have that happen to you. They will also lose additional pay for the next 4 years as they will have to pay even more for there heath insurance. Sounds like a great deal for them, right? I bet all of you out there would have done the same!

    Besides all that the MFD gives a lot of money back to the communities and volunteers to both MTC and GR sport teams, clubs, charities, soup kitchens, youth groups etc. They give back and care about the citizens and the communities

    Everyone talks about volunteers; there is a huge difference between a paid town and volunteer. Response time is dramatically less, and seconds count when people’s lives are on the line. Just ask some of the citizens that were unfortunate enough to have a fire, were trapped until they or a loved one were saved by the FD. I bet their point of view would be much different then most. They would tell you that it was worth every penny they pay in taxes and more!

    Besides, paid department train everyday to be ready for any emergency.
    Just to name a few:
    Firefighting of single family homes, multifamily homes, Apartment buildings, Nursing homes and assisted living facilities, Hospitals, high story buildings, storefront business, strip malls, Places that store hazardous material, Bomb scares of business, schools and homes, Terrorist attacks including toxic and deadly substances, dirty bomb etc. Confined space rescue, Trench rescue, High angle rescue, fire victim rescue techniques, Electrical and high voltage emergency, Gas emergencies, Water emergency, Auto extrication, Train emergencies electric and diesel, flammable liquid spills and fires, Hazardous material spills and emergencies, Carbon Monoxide emergency, First aid, CPR and defibrillation, and many more.

    The cost of training the revolving door of volunteers coming and going to this level would be enormous and would never have the ability or the cohesiveness of a paid department that trains together all the time. That directly translates to citizen safety and safety of the community.

    Maybe many of the people out there that have so much time on their hands to just sit by a computer all day and complain about how Montclair citizens are not getting a good deal by providing fire service to glen ridge should use their time more wisely. Like stop using you bosses or jobs time and computer to post these ill informed, uneducated comments.

    Maybe since the FD has become an expert at doing more with less, they should examine your job for inefficiencies and cut your job, department, equipment and resources. I am sure you can do more for less also!

    Why don’t you try tanking the people for going above and beyond, being there to protect you and your family 24/7 nights, weekends holidays and bad weather, all to help you collect extra money for your benefit not theirs. I would hope you don’t mind if the FD tries to keep the staffing level up so they can not only protect the citizens and business but keep themselves safe so they can go home to their families too!

    The bottom line is without GR you would need the same size FD and you would not get the millions that are collected to help keep you taxes down. Just remember that the FD gets no additional pay, manpower or equipment to cover GR, all they get is the added work, responsibility and risk along with all you complaints about it.

  69. Kyle if you and your neighbors have more then one income to make ends meet then we are more alike then you think or like to believe. We all pay the same high taxes, we’re forced to do more with less in our personal and professional lives.
    I read the article when it came out. It was full of half truths and falsehoods then as now. F/F’s salary start off in the mid 20s and take years to reach top pay. You can’t compare Montclair’s median income to Bloomfield’s, the towns are very different.

  70. And for the knuckle head that talks about FF pay and how high it is. Just know that FF’s lose 50% of their pay with all the deductions. You know taxes, pension, heath insurance etc. it’s not what you make it’s what you bring home. So when you see and 90k income just know they are only taking home 45k. I guess you would put your life on the line for a lot less right?

  71. And for all who keep thinking FF’s are paid too much, you can quit your job and come on in and join the force. Just remember a bad day at the firehouse someone does not go home to their family. A bad day for you is a blister on you finger from a long hard day of hitting the keyboard posting misinformation

  72. According to NJbythenumers, effective March 2011, the average salary is approximately $92k per fireman, with approx. 22 making over $99k well up into the mid $100’s. This does not include overtime. Probably higher now given raises and promotions.

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