Rick Patrick: Greene Publishing, Inc.
During a special called meeting of the Madison County Board of County Commissioners on Thursday, April 20, the Commissioners met with local firefighters to discuss the County's current and future firefighting needs. The County is considering the amount for the next fire assessment for the County, and the Commissioners took the opportunity to hear directly from the local firefighters, many of whom are volunteers with various volunteer fire departments throughout the County.
Every five years, the County conducts a study to determine a fire assessment amount and the most equitable method of collecting that amount. Currently, the fire assessment is $25 per household. Commercial properties are assessed based on square footage. This brings in approximately $330,000 with which the County operates its fire protection services. One issue facing the commissioners is the fact that the State Legislature has passed legislation that no longer allows an assessment to be put on agricultural land. This alone will cause $80,000 less for the County to use for fire protection. In order to make up for this difference, the County will need to increase the $11 assessment per household to $36. That is just to keep the level of protection at current levels. According to County Coordinator, Brian Kauffman, the County also is required to pay the State seven cents per acre, which equates to approximately $32,000 per year, to cover the cost of fire protection for forest lands.
A vast majority of the County's fire budget goes to various volunteer fire departments located throughout the County. These volunteer fire departments are becoming stretched thin due to the lack of volunteers to man the departments. This results in the Madison Fire Rescue Department responding to more and more calls. The County pays the City for these calls in order to offset some of the added cost to the City.
During the meeting the floor was opened up to those present, to hear ideas and suggestions. One concern repeated on more than one occasion was the lack of people willing to serve in volunteer fire departments. “The volunteer base is corroding,” said one firefighter. One problem faced with getting volunteers is the amount of training required to become certified as a firefighter. One suggestion was made to set regular training sessions on CPR, Firefighter I training, etc. Commissioner Rick Davis asked if fire assessment funds could be used to help pay for training (CPR, etc.) for volunteers. County Attorney Reeves informed the Board they could authorize training with fire assessment funds. Another idea presented was to cross-train current EMS personnel for firefighting.
One suggestion made was to have a “Fire Coordinator” to help coordinate many of the administrative duties among the various departments. Another suggestion was made to have county-wide purchase of equipment in order to pool purchases and resources in order to save money.
It was generally agreed that the citizens of Madison County have received a good deal for the $25 they currently pay for fire services. As Commissioner Rick Davis put it, “What level of service do you want?”