Audit OK for Fee-Based Tenn. Department

Jan. 03--CLINTON -- A special audit of a volunteer fire department -- sought by Anderson County Commission after the department converted to a fee-based system -- came back clean with no discrepancies. The audit cost the county $3,000.

Still, blowback from the subscription system lingers. Commissioners aren't providing the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department with $20,000 that the county's other volunteer fire departments receive each year.

And commissioners last year passed a resolution dropping all fee-based fire departments from eligibility for periodic funding of a new fire engine. The Andersonville department is the only firefighting unit in the county with a subscription system and had been next in line for that nearly $230,000 payment.

"The fee-based system is what is creating the tension," said Commissioner Dusty Irwin, who represents the Andersonville area.

Fire Chief Jeff Bagwell said while the membership fee remains controversial, enrollment in the program is up as it begins its second full year. Those subscriptions now fund the bulk of the department's annual budget, he said.

When it was announced, Bagwell said the fee-based system was necessary to keep the department from closing. Fundraising efforts and donations to the department weren't enough to cover costs. Now, with three fire stations and 30 members, the department serves some 9,000 residents in a 68-square-mile area.

Bagwell contends the subscription service is improving service and cutting response times. He said the response time by 16 firefighters to a Christmas Day fire at a rural residence was five minutes. Half the house burned, he said, but many possessions were saved.

The department's board of directors is urging that the county resume supporting the department's "aggressive efforts to provide improved fire and emergency services."

Bagwell said the special audit dispelled what he said were false rumors that "people in the fire department were misusing money."

The audit did urge more segregation in bookkeeping procedures, he said. "We have already addressed those issues."

Bagwell's part-time job as a sales representative for a manufacturer of firetrucks and equipment was also examined, and auditors found no conflict of interest.

Bagwell said he never received any commission from the form, and his part-time employer considers the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department "a house account." Bagwell works full time with Rural/Metro Fire Department in Knoxville.

To date, 600 homes and businesses have subscribed to the firefighting service for 2014, he said. The typical homeowner pays from $150 to $250 for a yearly subscription. There are about 4,500 homes and businesses in the service area.

The minimum charge for responding to a residential fire where the occupant is not a subscriber is $1,900, but the average fee in such instances is "several thousand dollars," Bagwell said.

The fire department's service area includes county-owned structures including two elementary schools, but the county isn't paying a subscription. The fire department sent the school system a $950 bill for responding to a fire alarm at Andersonville Elementary School. There is a fire station next-door. "They (school officials) are pretty mad," Bagwell said.

Irwin, the county commissioner, described fire department members as "good people trying to do good things, but it's evident the majority of citizens are opposed to this fee system."

Copyright 2014 - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.