The Pine Bush Fire District is likely absorb the New Prospect Fire Protection District in the neighboring Town of Shawangunk, under a deal approved by the Shawangunk and Crawford town boards.

Pine Bush firefighters have answered calls in the New Prospect district since it was created in the late 1950s or early 1960s, Shawangunk Supervisor John Valk, Jr., said this week. New Prospect has never had its own fire company and until 1998 it didn’t even have an official map of the district.

Residents of New Prospect are taxed for the service, and in 2022 under contract Shawangunk paid the Pine Bush District about $115,000, Valk said. But it’s “taxation without representation,” he said, because New Prospect residents — there are about 316 properties in the district — have never been eligible to elect members of the Pine Bush Board of Fire Commissioners, who, among other duties, set the district budget. There are five commissioners who serve staggered five-year terms and that won’t change after the consolidation.

Valk said the cost of the service shouldn’t change much once the districts are combined. Properties in each town will be responsible for an equitable share of the district’s tax levy, taking into consideration assessed property values and equalization rates.

Two of the three fire departments that serve Shawangunk also showed some interest in absorbing New Prospect, Valk said. However, both the Shawangunk Valley Fire Company and the Walker Valley Fire Company are farther away from New Prospect than Pine Bush. That, Valk said, could drive up the cost of insurance for New Prospect residents.

According to the agreement worked out by Shawangunk and Crawford, the rights and duties of the Pine Bush Fire District will stay the same as before the consolidation, except for the addition of the New Prospect properties. After January 1, 2023, qualified residents of the old New Prospect district will be able to participate in any and all annual or special elections or referenda in the expanded Pine Bush district.

The Pine Bush Hook and Ladder Company’s headquarters are located on Route 52, east of the hamlet. It has a second station house in Thompson Ridge.

A public hearing on the proposed consolidation will be held at 7:30 p.m. on July 26 at the firehouse on Route 52.