Though Casco selectmen approved a raise in the per-call stipend for volunteer firefighters and agreed to pay them for training, they tabled a request to double the amount fire department officers receive from the town.

“I think they deserve an increase,” Selectman Barbara York said. “I know they’re deserving of it, but this isn’t the year to double anything.”

York suggested giving officers half the stipend increase they had requested, and selectmen tabled the issue to allow Fire Chief John Small to talk to his officers and come back next week with a new proposal.

Small had asked for officer’s stipends to double, though he requested a smaller increase for himself. Small also asked for the per-call rate for volunteer firefighters to increase from $15 to $25 and for the town to pay $15 for members to attend training.

The department requested stipend increases from $5,000 to $8,000 for the fire chief, $2,000 to $4,000 for the assistant chief, $1,750 to $3,500 for the deputy chief, $1,000 to $2,000 for the captain, $750 to $1,500 for three lieutenants, $150 to $300 for six truck captains and $875 to $1,750 for the safety officer.

If selectmen were to approve half the increase requested, the fire chief would receive $6,500, the assistant chief would receive $3,000, and others would also receive half the requested increase.

Though the town’s rescue department received stipend increases the year before last, fire department stipends have remained static since the town started paying them in 2002 or 2003, Small said.

As the officer in charge of training firefighters, Deputy Chief Jason Moen told selectmen Tuesday that it was important to pay people for training to increase participation.

“The membership in the department is at an all time low,” Moen said.

The department offers 10-12 training sessions a year, and some of the topics covered are mandated by the state, Moen said.

“If you don’t train constantly, you tend to lose your skills,” Moen said. “We’re not meeting minimum standards.”

Small added that increasing stipends would not increase the department’s line item on the budget, which is around $50,000. The department, however, doesn’t typically use the entire stipend budget and returns around $20,000 to the general fund. With stipend increases, Small predicted the department would use $38,000-45,000 of the stipend account.

“The logic that it doesn’t affect the taxpayer doesn’t hold water,” said Selectman Calvin Nutting, adding that the carryover would be less if the department used more of their stipend amount.

Some members of the fire department attended Tuesday’s meeting to support Small and the increase for officers’ stipends.

“The increase that the fire department is asking for is minimal for the service they do,” said James Gerry, a former selectman and member of the fire department.

Small compared fire department stipends in Casco to those in surrounding towns. The Naples fire chief, who covers a similar population, receives a stipend of $10,741 and the Bridgton fire chief, with a higher population, receives a $11,803 stipend, Small said.

“That’s a fair comparison to me,” Small said.

Selectman Susan Witonis said she could not support stipend increases for officers, though she did support the increase in the per-call stipend and paid training.

“I know that money is going to be tight, and I think we should look at where we can cut costs,” Witonis said. Nutting, too, did not support the stipend increase for officers.

York said it seemed like a lot to double stipends for officers, but she wanted to give them something.

Selectman Paul Edes agreed.

“I think we ought to give them something,” he said.