New York Fire District Officers’ Guide

Description

Ensure Proper Administration Without Breaking the Budget

New York Fire District Officers’ Guide tells you how to remain in compliance while performing all your management duties.  With more than 260 forms and resolutions, this helpful guide gives you quick answers to your day-to-day operating and legal questions.

OSHA requirements … Bond issuance regulations … Reserve fund rules … Election procedures and forms … Audits of fixed asset inventory … Random drug testing … Reimbursement of expenses … Budget preparation — any one of these requirements could cause you legal trouble. But who can afford to consult an attorney every time a legal question arises?

Here is a less expensive solution. New York Fire District Officers’ Guide tells you how to remain in compliance while performing all your management duties:

• Organization
• Election
• Functions & Duties
• Operation
• Alcohol & Drugs
• Service Awards
• Budget Preparation
• Bond Issues
• Public Bidding
• ADA Compliance
• Contracts
• Claims & Vouchers
• Record Keeping
• Volunteer Membership
• Motivation & Management
• Constitution & Bylaws
• Emergency Rescue & Relief
• Ambulance Service
• Public Relations
• Labor Relations
• Discipline
• Insurance
• Volunteers’ Benefits
• Paid Firefighters
• Fire Protection Districts

You may refer to this helpful guide for: (1) quick answers to your day-to-day operating and legal questions, and (2) forms and resolutions. Why incur high hourly legal billing rates? Turn to Fire District Officers’ Guide when you need help with:

• Officers’ functions and duties. Expenditure of funds, financial reporting, investment policy, duties of chief, code of ethics, financial disclosure.
• Formation and operation. Media notification, organizational meetings, election requirements, annual meeting conduct, executive sessions, conventions and conference attendance, disaster preparedness, training, mutual aid plan, SEQRA compliance, public relations, insurance, creation of districts.
• Personnel. Substance abuse policy, privacy considerations, ADA compliance, membership committee, hiring considerations, personnel records, union organizing, disciplinary procedures, benefits, Fair Labor Standards Act compliance, military leave.
• Financial. Spending limitation, exceptions, bond issues, bond anticipation notes, capital and other reserve funds, record keeping, audits.
• Contracts. Bidding requirements, installment purchase requirements, procurement policies and procedures, contract cancellation.

Save legal fees with more than 260 forms–all of which are easily accessible via an emailed zip file.  Some forms include:

• Oaths of Office, Resolution for Defense and Indemnification of Fire District Officers, Sample Code of Ethics, Acknowledgment of Receipt of Code of Ethics, Annual Financial Disclosure
• Notification to Media of Organizational Meeting, Organizational Meeting Checklist, Notice of Annual Election, Resolution for the Use of Absentee Ballots, Notice of Permissive Referendum, Absentee Ballot, Application for Absentee Ballot
• Sample Investment Policy, Notice of Regular Meetings, Sample Rules and Regulations, Resolution for the Chief to Investigate, Resolution Authorizing Participation in Funerals
• Drug Policy Checklist, Sample Drug Policy, Reasonable Suspicion Testing
• Expenditures Worksheet, Estimated Revenues Worksheet, Summary of Expenditures, Summary of Estimated Revenues, Worksheet for Exception to Spending Limitations
• Resolution to Establish a Capital Reserve Fund for a Specific Object or Purpose, Suggested Resolution to Establish a Capital Reserve Fund for a Type of Equipment or Improvement
• Resolution Dealing with Procurement Policies, Second Sample of Procurement Policy Resolution, Notice to Bidders – Public Improvement, Notice to Bidders – Fire Apparatus, Quotations Register, Abstract of Audited Vouchers
• Public Access to Records, Application for Public Access to Records, Notice of Intention to Examine Public Employment Records, Itemized Voucher for Audit or Allowance of Claim Against District
• Resolution to Employ Paid Firefighters, Paid Officers, and a Paid Chief, Notice of Public Hearing

Administering a fire district continues to grow more difficult. This guide leads you step-by-step through the administrative pitfalls and will help your fire district run efficiently, solve management problems, and meet its legal obligations.

REVISION 25 HIGHLIGHTS

The New York Fire District Officers’ Guide tells you how to remain in compliance while performing all your management duties. With more than 260 forms and resolutions, this helpful guide gives you quick answers to your day-to-day operating and legal questions.

This 2021 edition adds a new chapter on “Communicable Disease and the Fire Service” (Chapter 30), which is aimed at preparing fire districts for state disasters involving public health emergencies.

NEW AND UPDATED SECTIONS FOR THIS REVISION ALSO INCLUDE DISCUSSIONS ON:

•  Prohibited Displays of Symbols of Hate On Fire District and Fire Department Properties. (Chapter 5)
• The New Video Conferencing Rules Regarding Meetings for Board of Fire Commissioner Meetings. (Chapter 2)
• Rules Regarding Publishing Notice of the Report of an External Audit. (Chapter 5)
• Adjustment to LOSAP Point System Due to Changes in Emergency Response Protocol. (Chapter 5B)
• Meetings of the Fire Company by Electronic Communication. (Chapter 12)
• New York Anti-Discrimination Law That Pertains to the Employment of Firefighters and Personnel. (Chapter 22)

THESE NEW OR MODIFIED FORMS ARE ALSO INCLUDED:

Form 2-11 Resolution to Hold Fire District Meeting by Videoconferencing

• Form 2-12 Letter to Town Clerk Regarding Video Conferencing Form
• Form 2-13 Legal Notice of Public Hearing Use of Videoconferencing
• Form 2-14 Procedure for Use of Video Conferencing
• Form 2-15 Notification to Secretary. Commissioner’s Inability to Attend Meeting Due to Extraordinary Circumstances
• Form 2-16 Notice to Media. Commissions Inability to Attend Meeting Due to Extraordinary Circumstances
• Form 5-51 Modified Fire District Substance Abuse Policy Including Cannabis Substances
• Form 5-56 Notice of Audit by OSC • Form 5-57 Notice of Audit by Certified Public Accountant or Independent Public Accountant
• Form 7-32 Resolution Establishing Reserve Fund for the Payment of Bonded Indebtedness
• Form 7-33 Certification by No Petition Filed Regarding Transfer from Capital Reserve Fund to Fund Purchase

AND MORE!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In n addition to authoring New York Fire District Officers’ Guide updates, Mr. DiRaddo practices municipal law in Western and Central New York and represents numerous fire districts and fire departments. These districts oversee full-paid, combination, and all-volunteer fire departments.

Mr. DiRaddo is a frequent speaker and panel member at the semi-annual meetings of the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York, speaker at the FASNY conference, and is an instructor for the mandatory six-hour training for fire district commissioners and the regional training session sponsored by the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York.

Mr. DiRaddo is currently the attorney for the Town of Wheatland, Monroe County, and the former town attorney for the Town of Greece—a town of over 90,000 people—where he oversaw a staff of three attorneys and several outside law firms representing the town. He was responsible, like fire attorneys, for the legal representation of the town in all contract, litigation, and compliance matters.

Mr. DiRaddo is also a former Monroe County Legislator, a former Town of Greece Councilman, and former Town Justice, where he was responsible for the administration of justice within the town of Greece on all matters within the jurisdiction of the New York Town Courts. This included arraignment and preliminary hearing jurisdiction of all original felony matters, and trial jurisdiction of all misdemeanors, traffic violations, small claims, and local ordinance violations occurring within the town of Greece. He was also the Vice-President of the Monroe County Magistrates Association.

Mr. DiRaddo received his Juris Doctorate at the St. Louis University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics from the Saint John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.