The 87-year-old East End Volunteer Fire Department may shut its doors Dec. 31 due to a lack of funding. At the center of the money crunch is one big piece of equipment –– a new fire engine.

The department uses a 23-year-old engine for large structure fires, which Fire Chief William Finley Jr. said is potentially unreliable –– a hazard to residents and firefighters.

Councilman John Zoranacky said the borough has balked at the price of the new tanker –– expected to be bought with annual $58,000 payments –– because they want to wait on a January audit to show whether it’s needed.

“The only way they would have that shortfall is if they went out and bought the truck,” Zoranacky said. Mercer agreed to cover any other increases in the department’s budget.

To buy the tanker, Mercer, Coolspring, Findley and East Lackawannock townships would need to cough up about 0.75 mills of tax. That works out to about $13.50 more on local tax bills for the median Mercer-area home this year.

Coolspring Supervisor Robert McGhee said they increased taxes 1 mill last year and wouldn’t do it again. Mercer council is wary of tax increases during the tough economy, Mayor Steven Van Woert has said.

If the municipalities don’t provide the money, Finley has said the department will stop providing services at midnight Dec. 31 to avoid going into the red. He said the truck is a necessity. Without it, he argued that residents’ and firefighters’ lives are in danger.

The old engine is already two years past its replacement date, he said, and council promised to work on getting a new one in 2008. On waiting another year, he said he’s heard that tune before.

Waiting for January will be too late to raise the necessary money for a tanker this year through a tax increase, since the budget must be finished by December.

That’s unintentional, Zoranacky said, and January is the first time someone from the state can come in to examine the fire department’s needs.

Zoranacky said he respects the firefighters and other public servants who put their lives at risk, but that East End wants their budget approved as is, truck included.

“To boil the whole issue down, it’s over a new truck,” Zoranacky said. “And even then, the municipalities have said, ‘We realize you probably need one, but let’s wait a year. Tell us what you need to get it through another year and we’ll have it looked at.’ ”

There are safety concerns with using an old pumping truck, Finley said. “I don’t know that the thing’s going to last another year. Could we possibly get another couple months out of it? Maybe. But it’s definitely day to day, month to month.”

For now, there are air leaks forming in the pump and water leaks in the tank, Finley said. The chief concern, though, is possible mechanical failure in the engine or pump during an emergency.

If the truck doesn’t start and it takes firefighters 10 minutes to get out of the station, Finley said, it could spell disaster. He noted that if the pump gives out at the scene of the fire, it puts firefighters’ lives at risk.