May 10--Almost $700,000 in perks for Frederick County's fire and rescue volunteers will sweeten a plan to raise tax rates in communities without round-the-clock professional staffing.
Negotiations among county officials, municipal leaders and members of emergency services set the stage for the plan approved Thursday by the Board of County Commissioners. Nine companies in areas such as Brunswick, Walkersville and Thurmont will split $514,738, money designed to reward the volunteerism that eases the need for expensive career personnel.
"Volunteers save us substantial tax dollars," Commissioners President Blaine Young said.
County staff crafted the incentives to total half of the estimated new revenue from raising taxes on residents near the nine companies.
The plan passed Thursday sets aside an additional $62,500 for five other stations that do not use 24-hour-a-day professional staffing. It increases by $7,120 the county contribution for Mount Airy firefighter physicals and pumps an additional $114,000 into a pension system for volunteers.
The package of benefits gained backing from all board members who were present, although Commissioner Billy Shreve was out of the room during the vote.
Paul Hackey, president of New Market Volunteer Fire Co., said the money will be an "excellent incentive" for his organization, which has worked hard to deepen its volunteer ranks.
The support for volunteers comes as commissioners consider reshaping the funding mechanisms for emergency services.
A core piece of the overhaul gained approval Thursday, as commissioners voted to increase the property tax rate from 93.6 cents to $1.064 per $100 of assessed value. The proposed budget would offset this increase by abolishing the fire tax, now set at rates of 12.8 cents for urban districts and 8 cents for suburban districts, areas that lean more heavily on volunteers. The changes will leave most of the county without any increase in overall tax rates, but property owners in suburban areas will see rates rise by 4.8 cents.
The incentives discussed Thursday will go chiefly to stations in these suburban districts.
The overhaul is an attempt to start tackling deep shortfalls inside the fire tax fund, Young said.
Commissioner Kirby Delauter praised the effort to spread fire and rescue costs evenly across taxpayers. Folding the fire tax fund into the general fund will give residents a more complete picture of the county's finances and make it more difficult to conceal deficits, he said.
"This is an overall consolidation that will help fire and rescue do their job without the smoke and mirrors and the shell game that was being played," Delauter said.
However, Commissioner David Gray opposed adjusting property tax rates and said he didn't think the fire tax system was broken. Rolling the fire tax into the property tax is less transparent, he argued, since it will be more difficult for residents to see how much money they are giving to emergency services.
The proposed county budget presented at Tuesday's public hearing set aside $308,000 for volunteer incentives, said Regina Howell, county budget officer.
Beefing up this funding, she said, will require officials to carve out roughly $400,000 more before finalizing the budget.
Follow Bethany Rodgers on Twitter @Beth RodgersFNP.
Frederick County volunteer fire and rescue Incentives
Brunswick Volunteer Fire Co.: $62,695Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Co.: $33,759Lewistown Volunteer Fire Co.: $25,643Middletown Volunteer Fire Co.: $113,056New Market Volunteer Fire Co.: $31,180Guardian Hose Co.: $75,408Thurmont Community Ambulance Service: $40,605Walkersville Volunteer Fire Co.: $86,054Walkersville Rescue Co.: $46,337
Total incentives for companies in suburban districts: $514,738
Additional $12,500 incentives going to Vigilant Hose Co. and New Midway, Rocky Ridge, Graceham and Wolfsville volunteer fire companies.
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