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LIGHTNING GLANCEBOXES: Fire department budgets for 2015-16

Here are summaries of rural fire department and Rescue Squad budgets for the fiscal year that started on July 1:

 

Bat Cave


Rating class: 7
Founded: 1974.
Equipment: Nine vehicles
Needs: Department is outfitting a “new to us” 2001 International truck for use as a 4,500-gallon tanker to replace a 1982 GMC tanker.
Personnel: 34 adult volunteer firefighters, four junior firefighters.
Salaries: None.
Taxable value of district: $88.35 million.
2015-15 budget: $106,067
Increase over 2014-15: $17,254
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 10 cents, 12 cents
Total assets: $1.2 million
Quote: “Our equipment is top-notch but starting to age as evidenced by our rising maintenance expenditures.”

Blue Ridge


Rating class: 5
Founded: 1958
Equipment: 17 vehicles
Needs: Turnout gear (plans to refinance ladder truck to buy 20 sets over four years)
Personnel: Nine fulltime firefighters, one paid chief, 43 volunteer firefighters, five junior firefighters. Roster includes five paramedics, 32 EMTs.
Salaries: $580,411
Taxable value of district: $888 million.
2015-15 budget: $1.63 million
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 9.5 cents, 12 cents
Quote: “The impact of the loss of revenue from the cancellation of the contract with the city of Hendersonville combined with the repressed economy, continued annexation and the lack of growth in the Blue Ridge District became clear during the 2014-15 fiscal year.”

Dana


Rating class: 5
Founded: 1971
Equipment: Nine vehicles
Needs: Add daytime firefighter.
Personnel: Three fulltime firefighters, one paid chief, 28 volunteer firefighters, xxxx junior firefighters.
Salaries: $184,882.
Taxable value of district: $461.9 million
2015-15 budget: $584,233.
Increase over 2014-15: $109,235
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 11 cents, 13 cents
Quote: “No on-the-job injuries or out of work within our membership.”

Edneyville


Rating class: 5
Founded: not reported.
Equipment: 15 vehicles at three stations.
Needs: Seeking grant to add three fulltime firefighters, planning to buy new fire engine for $450,000 (borrowing $300,000).
Personnel: Two fulltime, seven part-time employees, 49 volunteer firefighters.
Salaries: $198,029.
Taxable value of district: $691.35 million.
2015-15 budget: $707,228.
Increase over 2014-15: $99,346.
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): xxx cents, xxx cents
Quote: Under goals and objectives: “Everyone goes home.”

Etowah-Horse Shoe


Rating class: 4
Founded: 1963
Equipment: 20 trucks, 2 boats, 2 trailers, one ATV. Buying a new medical response truck.

Needs: Received $134,800 FEMA grant to recruit and retain volunteers through a pay per call per diem.
Personnel: Eight paid firefighters, 37 volunteer firefighters, 12 junior firefighters.
Salaries: $378,962
Taxable value of district: $1.13 billion
2015-15 budget: $1.725 million
Increase over 2014-15: $646,243
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 9.5 cents, 10.5 cents
Quote: “Our station was the second volunteer fire department in the state to achieve a rating” when it improved from class 5 to class 4 in 2002.

Fletcher


Rating class: 4/5
Founded: 1953
Equipment: Not listed
Needs: Plans to provide raise to firefighters, who have had no increase in six years; reinstate employee benefits to aid in retaining qualified personnel; raise starting pay to be more competitive with peer departments.
Personnel: Not listed.
Salaries: $1.22 million
Taxable value of district: $823.7 million
2015-15 budget: $2.03 million
Increase over 2014-15: $379,622.
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 10 cents, 11.5 cents
Quote: “The potential negative impact of not increasing the rate would see personnel continue to leave and go to other departments and severely limit the department’s ability to safely and efficiently manage the tremendous growth our district is experiencing.”

Gerton

Rating class: 6
Founded: 1974
Equipment: Seven vehicles.
Needs: Replace older pumper trucks, SCBA equipment (self contained breathing apparatus)
Personnel: Average 10-12 firefighters for structure fires and 6-8 for medical and other calls. Eight firefighters rotate covering one daytime shift. Department did not list its total roster.
Salaries: $25,000.
Taxable value of district:
2015-15 budget: $103,310
Decrease from 2014-15: $9,471.
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 12.5 cents, 12.5 cents
Quote: “Gerton has always been financially strapped. We see no reason that it will change in the immediate future. However, we have very competent leaders who are not only looking out for the needs of our community but are attuned to the financial condition of our department.”


Green River


Rating class: 6
Founded: 1958
Equipment: Not reported.
Needs: Plans to add a daytime firefighter for better response times, buy a used fire engine and complete purchase of property at Pinnacle Falls for a future Station 4.
Personnel: 50 volunteer firefighters.
Salaries: $40,000.
Taxable value of district: $613.8 million
2015-15 budget: $553,000
Increase over 2014-15: $69,000
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 7 cents, 8 cents
Quote: “Our goals for the upcoming year will be the most challenging the department has ever seen.”

Mills River


Rating class: 4
Founded: 1968
Equipment: 17 fire vehicles, three support vehicles, public fire education trailer, boat, ATV.
Needs: Purchased seven acres at old Ritter Airport property for a new main station; ordered $1.5 million ladder truck; expect to hire three paid firefighters.
Personnel: Five paid firefighters, 50 volunteer firefighters, 12 junior firefighters.
Salaries: $300,000.
Taxable value of district: $1.117 billion
2015-15 budget: $1.02 million
Increase over 2014-15: $141,950
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 7.5 cents, 9 cents
Quote: “Mills River is growing at a very fast pace, particularly in the commercial/industrial sector.”

Mountain Home


Rating class: 5
Founded: 1965
Equipment: Not reported.
Needs: Replace fire engine that was totaled in Carriage Park accident on ice, replace one vehicle with a smaller rescue truck, buy a mini-pumper, renovate and add to Station 1.
Personnel: 14 paid firefighters; did not report volunteer roster.
Salaries: $616,650
Taxable value of district: $1.26 billion
2015-15 budget: $1.47 million
Increase over 2014-15: $224,151.
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 10.5 cents, 12 cents
Quote: “In November 1964 residents of Mountain Home/Grimesdale area met to discuss the need for fire protection. As a result, Mountain Home Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1965.”

Saluda


Rating class: 5 inside Saluda city limits; 6 outside.
Founded: Early 1900s
Equipment: 11 vehicles including a tanker, four fire engines, three trucks, one quick reponse vehicle and a Polaris.
Needs: Continue to fund three paid firefighters, plan for a substation.
Personnel: Three fulltime firefighters, 37 total.
Salaries: $102,218
Taxable value of district: $190.6 million **
2015-15 budget: $417,527 **
Increase over 2014-15: $59,108 **
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 8.5 cents, 10 cents **
Quote: “We continue to have to cut other areas in order to pay our full-time personnel including a significant increase in employee health care costs.”

Valley Hill


Rating class: 4
Founded: 1963
Equipment: Not listed.
Needs: Valley Hill is adding a new fire station 2 after selling its Crab Creek station to Henderson County; replacing a fire engine next spring
Personnel: 28 fulltime firefighters, 15 part-time and 10 volunteer and junior firefighters.
Salaries: $1.07 million
Taxable value of district: $1.56 billion
2015-15 budget: $2.01 million
Increase over 2014-15: $262,800.
Tax rate (old, new, per $100 taxable value): 8.5 cents, 9.5 cents
Quote: “The residents that are currently more than 6 miles away are actually recognized (by the N.C. Department of Insurance) as a class 10, which is considered no fire protection. (Valley Hill’s new Station 2) will greatly benefit the residents of this area by cutting down on response times, which can also be the difference in life or death.”

Henderson County Rescue Squad ***


Founded: 1957
Needs: Replace rescue equipment, new headquarters to replace Williams Street, which has one shower for 50 male and female rescue squad members, does not meet disability access standards and “has many water leaks.”
Personnel: One fulltime administrator, a part-time financial officer, 28 part-time employees and 46 volunteers.
Salaries: $575,000
2015-15 budget: $1.026 million
Increase over 2014-15: $47,000
Quote: “The Rescue Squad has stepped up in a big way at a crucial time to handle the non-emergency transports when and sole backup of Henderson County EMS when it was direly needed” when the private Arc'Angel ambulance.

 

* Equipment includes fire apparatus, rescue trucks, pickup trucks, ATVs, rescue boats and other emergency response vehicles.

** Figures are for the part of the Saluda Fire District in Henderson County. The fire district straddles the Polk-Henderson line.

*** The Rescue Squad's $1.026 million budget is funded by Henderson County ($371,000), the city of Hendersonville, fundraising ($100,000), patient payments for medical transports ($500,000) and other revenue.