Commissioners Give Fire Departments Their Two Cents
The Fayette County Record
The Fayette County Commissioners Court expects to finalize next year’s proposedbudget this month.One major expense for the County every year goes toward financial support for the 10 volunteer fire departments. In 2017, the County dedicated two cents of its property tax rate toward the 10 departments. The money is split between the departments according to a formula based oncall volume.County Auditor Cindy Havelka estimated the contribution to the fire departments at$851,000 next year.The County has financially supported the volunteer fire departments for many years. From 2008 to 2015, the County dedicated $100,000 to the fire departments each year. In 2016, the Commissioners bumped up their funding to $150,000. Commissioners implemented the two-cent policy in 2017 in order to help the departments keep up with the rising cost of equipment. That year, the departments split $500,000. Since then, the contribution has increased bymore than $350,000.“Have their costs increased that much?” asked County Judge Joe Weber during a meeting last Thursday, July 28.
“Everybody’s costs have increased everywhere,” said Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom.
“You know what else increased? The amount of calls we have, the amount of people we have to take care of,” said Pct. 4 Commissioner Drew Brossmann, who also serves as an assistant chief for the Schulenburg Volunteer Fire Department. “When you make all these calls and you’re dealing with all these wrecks on Interstate 10, you understand why we need a littlemore money.”All of the departments hold various fundraisers throughout the year. The departments with an incorporated city, such as Schulenburg, Flatonia and La Grange, get some funding fromtheir city governments.Brossmann said the two-cent contribution costs far less than what it would cost taxpayers to fund a non-volunteer fire service with career firefighters.
“Just think about how much it would cost to have a paid department,”Brossmann said. “Where would you put your paid department? Would you put it in the central part of the County, in La Grange? If you have a paid department, you’re still going to need volunteers. So you’re still going to have to support these organizations. If you have a paid department, you’re going to need hub stations, kind of likeEMS.“Do you know how much it costs for one grass truck right now? About $140,000,” Brossmann added. “You have to have engines. You have to have tankers. The tanker (Schulenburg VFD) bought with this money was $261,000. Look how many of those apparatuses you would have to have all over the County. Tally that up. You’re going to have paid employees, paid firefighters, their benefits and all that stuff. You have to house them. When you look at the money we give to the volunteer fire departments, it’s not thatmuch.”Rodney Reed, a member of the Ledbetter Volunteer Fire Department, attended the meeting and thanked Commissioners fortheir support.“The Ledbetter Fire Department probably gets the least amount of money from the County,” Reed said. “It’s been a blessing for us. We’ve been able to buy another truck and some other equipment. We finally paid off our last truck. So next year, we’re looking at replacingone of our older trucks.”The County requires each department to submit a report each year detailing how they spent the money from the County. Reed said some of the other departments do not provide sufficient detail in their reports.
“I give a report to the County every year,” Reed said. “You can see where our money goes and what we get. I fail to see some of the fire departments giving thesame kind of report.”McBroom said he believes the County should keep the twocent allocation. However, he agreed with Reed, saying some departments need to do a better job of financial reporting to theCounty.Some surrounding counties such as Gonzales and Bastrop have established Emergency Services Districts (ESDs), which are elected governmentalbodies that collect a property tax separate from the County government. The ESD tax goes toward funding semi-professional fire departments. Those departments typically include a few paid firefighters who are supported by volunteer members.
Reed spoke against such an arrangement in Fayette County.
“You’ve got people getting paid at the top who don’t even go to the fire,” Reed said, referring to a fire department in a neighboring county.
This year’s overall County budget stands at $26.8 million.The four road and bridge departments account for about $7 million. The general fund, which includes most other county departments including the Sheriff’s Office, Jail and EMS, makes up $18.4 million. The remainder goes toward debt service and other ancillary functions.
Costs for fuel, supplies and equipment rose precipitously this year due to historic inflation. Some departments are struggling to stay within their budget. Accordingly, Commissioners are anticipating high costs next year.