What Happened?
Canton, Georgia, is spending $19,940 on a contract with a consulting firm to conduct a study on how fire services are currently funded and what alternative options the city has available to reduce budgetary burdens.
So What?
The Canton City Council voted to allow the Ecological Planning Group to research different funding opportunities to support the local fire department, as well as investigate how to adequately fund a volunteer force. The city council members are more interested in understanding what financial options are currently viable for the city with regard to fire service funding, and will consider the hybridization model after exhausting all efforts to maintain the status quo.
The hybridization models being looked at in the study, however, could save the city $800,000 and pay the county $230,000 annually for operating costs. Canton could either maintain city control of fire services with a joint professional and volunteer firefighter model, or partially consolidate fire departments between the city’s resources and county assets.
Alternative Funding Options
The U.S. Fire Administration has partnered up with the International Fire Services Training Association to enable alternative funding solutions for emergency services and fire departments across the country. The departments conducted critical analysis of funding issues at the local level, and how federal alternatives can help sustain services to communities. Most municipalities are struggling to pay for equipment, training and salaries of fully staffed departments, and are thus considering consolidation models with unique funding strategies. At the local level, new sources of revenue streams to support fire departments outlined in the study include:
- Taxes on real property, personal income, sales transactions, real estate transfer, utility user: New taxes go into general funds and are divided up among public agencies.
- Development impact and user fees charged to those benefitting from services.
- Fines, forfeitures and citations to those engaged in high-risk activities that may increase the frequency of emergency services use.
- Enterprise funds for city-operated services and utility rates to support agency operations
- Sale of services or used assets to support departments
- Special districts created to assess benefits in support of fire services
- Borrow revenue to purchase equipment or facilities
There are also numerous private sector funding sources municipalities should research when revamping fire service business models such as:
- Foundations
- Corporate giving
- Program-related investments
Rural Fire Department Resources
The National Agricultural Library’s Rural Information Center outlined the various federal funding programs available to fire departments. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has forest service and rural development programs in place that offer grants and assistance programs to rural communities with limited access to fire service resources.
The Department of Energy has a fire protection funding program, the Justice Department offers an emergency responder equipment database for affordable purchasing options and the Department of Interior offers grants for forests, rangelands and protection of Indian Affairs. The Department of Homeland Security offers training program reimbursements and prevention and safety grants to support fire services, while the EPA, DOT and HUB have also created funding programs to support emergency services in rural communities.
Fire Consolidations
Gov1 has followed consolidation efforts of local fire departments that save millions of taxpayer dollars and improve use of resources.[/dw-post-more]