With the onset of new government regulations, it was determined that contracting out fire dispatch services was the most beneficial option for the City. This move alleviated multi-million dollar upgrades to the fire dispatch centre and re-focused staffing on emergency response. This initiative was successfully negotiated in 2023 with the firefighters association and fire dispatch has already transitioned to Peterborough Fire Services.
Fire Master Plan
The City of Belleville’s Fire & Emergency Services department has undertaken a Fire Master Plan to assist the City in establishing a long-term strategy for fire and emergency services based on community risk, safety, corporate priorities and council-approved budget allocations. The document has been approved by Council and be used as a tool to evaluate and forecast immediate and future emergency service needs of the community.
The Approach:
Behr Integrated Solutions Inc. was awarded the contract in 2022 and work began immediately. The process was broken into three phases:
- Planning – Organizing and defining goals/objectives of the plan.
- Analysis – Collecting data, conducting a community risk assessment, defining programs and/or system requirements and preparing the plan.
- Implementation – While making sure to revisit and evaluate community risks and the plan itself on an ongoing basis.
In order to develop the plan, a number of consultations and comparisons were conducted by the project team, including: a community and fire station tour, a Fire Master Plan workshop with labour union leaders and other representatives of the Belleville Fire & Emergency Services, targeted interviews, an online firefighter survey and a comparative analysis of other similar-sized municipal fire and emergency services departments.Using the findings gathered throughout the planning and analysis process, a number of observations and recommendations were developed by the team. A copy of the approved plan is now available.
Highlights
Within the Fire Master Plan document, there are numerous operational and strategic recommendations which are key to improving the level of service. The below strategic initiatives are a direct result of the master plan recommendations. They create a path forward for creating a more efficient and effective response force for Belleville Fire & Emergency Services.
The consultant identified the need for additional oversight within the full-time fire suppression ranks to improve staff safety and generate efficiencies in the day-to-day operations. As part of the fire dispatch negotiations, four new supervisory positions have been created and already implemented. This new position, holding the rank of Platoon Chief, is a roaming command officer available to respond anywhere within the City limits.
Update of Establishing and Regulating By-law
A review and update of the regulating by-law for which Council determines the level of service. Current services, future needs and gap analysis will be conducted by staff for Council approval. The level of service will look at responses to fires, motor vehicle collisions, technical rescues, hazardous material response and marine response, as well as the fire prevention and public education programs.
Historically, Belleville Fire & Emergency Services has operated two fire departments. This included a full-time service in the urban area and a volunteer service in the rural area.It was clearly identified that there are many efficiencies in operating a true composite service where resources are shared to achieve service excellence. This recommendation was not only found in the master plan but was also a clear directive from Mayor and Council. Many initiatives are now underway to achieve an integrated service, with more work to come. The following outlines some of these initiatives:
- Cross-training between rural and urban staff.
- Single set of standardized operational guidelines for the entire department.
- Breaking down hard-set response areas and sending the closest and quickest resources.
- Allowing urban resources to respond into rural areas to augment staffing needs.
- Creation of a third fully staffed pumper apparatus to take place beginning in January of 2025. This apparatus will have a dedicated urban response area and will be available to respond across the entire City without delay. This improves response times, promotes firefighter safety in numbers, ensures proper supervisory oversight, augments volunteer response and guarantees a response to all fire service responses.
Proposed Additions to Fire Response Boundaries
The Fire Master Plan recommends expanding the urban fire response boundary into the Cannifton Rural area to provide improved fire protection and response coverage in that part of the city. This change reduces the rural response boundary accordingly. These proposed additions can be found in the Proposed Fire Response map.
Service Area Transition:
The City of Belleville now has five “service areas” (also known as “tax billing areas”): Belleville Urban, Cannifton Urban, Cannifton Rural, Belleville Rural and the Cannifton Rural to Urban tax area established in 2025.
Tax rates vary throughout these areas based on a process called “area rating” which ensures taxpayers pay only for the services they receive. When Council establishes the annual budget, each area is impacted by the budgets for the services they receive and pays taxes accordingly. Fire response is one of these services.
Some fire budget costs are shared equally by all City of Belleville taxpayers. Services specific to a geographical area are budgeted only to that area. The areas of Belleville Urban and Cannifton Urban pay for the urban fire/full-time fire budget costs, and Cannifton Rural and Belleville Rural pay for the rural fire/volunteer fire budget costs.
For proper fire response and the adequate protection of persons and property in the community, the Fire Master Plan recommended an increased response in the Cannifton Rural area. This extended the urban fire response boundary and decreased the rural fire response boundary. With this area being provided urban fire service, it is important that the taxation of these properties be adjusted for the service they are provided. In 2025 the new tax table; Cannifton Rural to Urban area was established and will be transitioning this area from rural fire/volunteer fire to urban fire/full-time fire. The result is approximately 2,200 properties in the Cannifton Rural area moving to and paying for the Urban Fire service.
It is important to note that by adjusting the tax boundary, there is no additional tax revenues derived for the City. However, this change means a redistribution in the taxes that each area will pay for the services they are receiving.
Tax Impacts:
Ultimately, the result of the approximately 2,200 properties moving to urban fire service taxation, means that both of the urban tax billing areas (Belleville Urban and Cannifton Urban) will see relief in annual taxes as these rural properties are transitioned to urban fire budget. Those in the rural tax billing area will see increases because these transitioning properties will no longer be contributing towards the rural fire service costs.
Given the proportionate costs of service, the approximately 2,200 properties moving from Cannifton Rural to Cannifton Urban will see the greatest impact, as they will now be contributing towards and receiving a higher service level. To accommodate this transition, affected properties will be billed using incremental annual changes to arrive at full contribution within 5-years (2025-2029).
| Tax Billing Area | 5-Year Boundary Impact Amount ($) | 5-Year Boundary Impact Percent (%) | Average Annual Impact Amount ($) | Average Annual Impact Percent (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleville Urban | ($63.65) | -1.32% | ($12.73) | -0.26% |
| Cannifton Urban | ($63.67) | -1.33% | ($12.73) | -0.27% |
| Cannifton Rural | $128.82 | 2.94% | $25.76 | 0.59% |
| Belleville Rural | $128.83 | 3.52% | $25.77 | 0.70% |
| Cannifton Rural to Urban | $371.80 | 8.32% | $74.36 | 1.66% |
These estimated impacts apply to 2027–2029 and are based on current urban and rural fire costs and how those costs are currently divided across tax tables. Actual impacts may change each year depending on approved fire budgets and how assessments grow in each table.
More Information
For more details on your residential Property Taxes and to better understand where your tax dollars are spent please visit the City’s Tax Calculator.
For further details on the Fire Master Plan project, please contact: firemasterplan@belleville.ca.
Contact Us
Subscribe and Follow
Sign up to receive the latest news and notices, subscribe to our newsletter and follow along on social media to make sure you never miss an update.
