JASPER, Tenn. - Marion County's 13 rural volunteer fire departments could have thousands of reasons to lower their Insurance Services Office fire ratings next year if the Marion County Commission approves County Mayor David Jackson's proposal next month.
At the board's August meeting, Jackson laid out a plan to give the fire departments financial incentive to lower those ISO ratings.
"One thing we need to do for our rural fire departments to help our citizens is to improve our ISO ratings," he said. "Sometimes we keep paying money and paying money and things don't get better."
The ISO inspects and rates fire departments periodically on a 10-point scale, with a score of one being the best.
"I think we have several [departments] that are nine or 10," Commission Chairman Gene Hargis said.
According to the proposed policy, a fire department with an ISO rating of nine or 10 would continue to receive the county's annual base payment of $7,000, but for every point the rating is lowered from there, the base pay would be increased by $1,000.
An ISO rating of six, for example, would result in $11,000 in funding.
"I can't see a rural fire department getting better than six," Jackson said. "I just don't think that can happen because of water supply and issues of that nature."
Hargis said lower ISO ratings mean lower insurance costs for homeowners, too.
Each department would have to comply with some strict guidelines to get the extra funding, Jackson said.
The ISO rating would have to be submitted to the county mayor's office by April 1 each year, and if the rating improves, the base pay would increase for the next fiscal year.
If it worsens, the payout for the next fiscal year would be reduced accordingly.
The board's emergency services committee would review all of the information submitted by the fire departments regularly, and Jackson said that any misconduct associated with the reporting of financial records or ISO ratings would result in the reduction or elimination of county funding for a time to be determined by that committee.
He said the procedures are "not written in stone," and he asked county leaders to examine his proposal closely over the next month and offer any suggestions for additions or revisions that they may have.
The policy is an effort to encourage the rural volunteer fire departments to "become better trained and prepared to protect the lives and property of the citizens of Marion County," Jackson said.
The new guidelines will be on the agenda of the board's next meeting on Sept. 28 when its members are expected to vote on whether or not to implement them.
"If we're not going to get better to help the citizens, then we're wasting our time by giving money to the fire departments," Jackson said. "We want to get better. We want to be better. We want to be able to go and save lives and save property."
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.