DALTON, Ga. – The Whitfield County Fire Department needs to grow, but its progress is being hampered by the sluggish economy and declining tax revenue, officials say.
The department needs a new $850,000 firetruck, two new fire stations and a study due next month may recommend a merger with the Dalton Fire Department, said County Fire Chief Carl Collins.
On top of that, the Whitfield department is manning several stations with skeleton staffs, according to a report Chief Collins presented to the County Commission, and response times have lagged over the last few years as population has grown in the county’s extreme southern and northern tips, where there are no fire departments.
Fixing those problems is too costly right now, said County Commission Chairman Mike Babb. Merging the county department, which relies heavily on volunteers, and the city department, which is all full time, would be expensive, he said.
“In these economic times, it’s hard to talk about buying a ladder truck or building fire stations,” Mr. Babb said. “But maybe there is some room to work an intergovernmental agreement with the city.”
The county went into the 2010 budget year with a $6 million shortfall. The deficit was closed with county savings, but in 2011, the county must make cuts if revenue doesn’t improve, Mr. Babb said.
“The sheriff’s office and the fire department and EMS, those are essential services, so we’ll meet the status quo there, but that’s about it,” he said.
The news isn’t surprising, Chief Collins said. He recognizes the county’s tight finances, he said, but leaders eventually will need to address the department’s strained resources.
Mr. Babb acknowledges that a new three-story school – Coahulla Creek High in Varnell – makes a firetruck with a ladder necessary. For now, though, the county will rely for help from the city, which has that sort of equipment.
That $850,000 piece of equipment is at the top of Chief Collins’ most-needed list, but it can wait. So can the new fire stations, he said.
But eventually, without the equipment improvement, added manpower and new stations, the county’s ISO rating – the ranking that insurance companies use to determine premiums – may increase and that could cost taxpayers.
Right now, the county’s rating is a 5, Chief Collins said. The last time the department was scored was about eight years ago, he said, and, at that time, the ISO ranking group recommended all the improvements he has presented to county leaders.
“After 10 years, ISO can just call you up and say they will be out next week to do an evaluation,” Chief Collins said. “Normally, they come through a request by us through the commissioners.”
Despite that, Mr. Babb said there likely won’t be money for the kind of improvements the department needs for at least two years.
It’s a situation Chief Collins said he understands and can work around.
“My part is just to lay it out there as to what we need,” Chief Collins said. “They have tough decisions. Everyone has their hand out.”
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