I think I'd respond by making a couple of points. The first one is that rather than asking the fire chief, probably it would be best to ask the head of council or the council members who actually have to raise taxes to pay for those services. They're the ones who really need to have the final decision.
Of course the union is interested in increasing members—that's their job—but they don't have to actually raise property taxes to do so. So I think that's how I'd answer the question.
I'd point out that that issue has existed for 50 or 60 years. I don't think this is going to change it significantly one way or the other.