2026 Budget Facts/Frequently Asked Questions
Average Ambulance Response Time (Dispatch to Arrival): 5.20 Minutes
Residential Vs Commercial Response: 34 Percent of EMS Calls were to commercial properties in town
District 2 (Whippany EMS Calls): 57 Percent of EMS Calls took place in District 2.
Calls Answered Vs Dropped: 91.65% of all EMS calls received were answered. Only 8.35% of calls required mutual aid response into town.
Top Zip Codes of Patients Treated/Transported:
07981 – 32.58 %
07927 – 13.15 %
07960 – 12.55 %
07950 – 7.20 %
Other – 34.52 %
Top Zip Codes of Where Patients Are Picked Up:
07981 – 45.04 %
07927 – 13.15 %
07960 – 12.55 %
07950 – 7.20 %
Other – 3.79 %
Money Collected by District 2025 (2 Month Lag):
District 2 – About 29 % of Money Billed Out
District 3 – About 27 % of Money Billed Out.
(A Collections agency is NOT utilized)
The District purchased an ambulance in 2024, the second payment is due this year which is $54,190. The ambulance is the third in our fleet and with our current staffing levels, allows a greater instance for two ambulances to be able to respond to calls in Hanover. In 2025 there were 2,795 requests for EMS. The inclusion of the third ambulance greatly reduced the instances of mutual-aid having to be called. This means faster care for our community. On average it takes less than seven minutes for an ambulance to arrive, well below the national accepted standard of eight minutes.
The District saw a 67 percent/$105,919 increase in healthcare costs for our employees for 2026.
In conjunction with the above, the District desires to maintain, or even bolster our staffing for EMS to more consistently staff two ambulances, and to employ the Power Truck concept, where the second ambulance is staffed based on statistically higher times where EMS requests occur.
The District is exercising exceptional efforts to minimize the tax burden to our residents. The Budget Committee has spent hundreds of man-hours dissecting the budget to adequately reflect where we can cut spending, and where spending needs to be increased. This has resulted in us having to pull money from the building maintenance lines in order to meet the increased costs for insurance and other needs.
The District is seeking voter approval for a Tax CAP Referendum. This action allows us to exceed the 2% CAP imposed by the State. In 2024 the State exempted school districts from this restriction based on inflationary trends. Municipalities and Fire Districts were excluded from this action, even though we suffer the consequences of increasing fuel, maintenance and operational costs. We absorbed a great portion of this by using savings, yet that practice is no longer deemed to be practical or feasible.
The District already remains in a Shared Services agreement for certain financial services which saves the District money every year. The District is endeavoring to enter into a proposed shared services agreement for vehicle and apparatus maintenance which would save us a significant amount of money, and would provide greater accountability for repairs.
Referendum Costs:
S&W & related fringe benefits (Allow the District to maintain staffing that provides the current level of service required. These increases stem from contractual raises, pension contributions and other benefits required for full time staffing due to decreased availability of volunteers and part time personnel.)
$384,779.00
Operation and Maintenance (Support basic and advanced training, the replacement of outdated equipment, and Personal Protective Equipment. This ensures operational efficiency and safety. Vendor pricing has also increased over the last 12 months.)
$137,914.00
Administration (these funds allow for measures in recruiting volunteer members to supplement career staffing and to better provide Fire and EMS services, as well as increased vendor costs due to inflation.)
$4,500.00
District 3 has taken all appropriate steps to try to move forward with the consolidation of the Township’s two fire districts. Although immediate cost savings may not be realized, a single district would allow for greater efficiency through a unified budget and better deployment of personnel to more effectively respond to the Township’s growing service needs.