Quote:
Originally Posted by FRPLG
To me it is and it isn't.
Areas like this don't have the money to have paid fire protection units so they contract with surrounding localities to provide them. Public safety costs money and when fire units have to leave their locality it creates a public safety issue so they have to hire more people to offset this possibility. More money. Look at it this way...for 75 bucks their house doesn't burn down.
A better solution is to have the county contract on its own and then pass the cost on via taxes. Then firefighters don't have to deny service.
This is very common in rural areas. In fact it is the norm.
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Another option could be to set the funding baseline where they need it to operate for the fiscal year. When they reach that through the fee, donations (people and businesses DO make separate unsolicited donations to fire departments), their capital campaigns/appeals they always mail out and their bingo/carnivals/spaghetti dinner fundraisers.
When they reach that level of operational funding...do their job for ANYONE who needs. Does it really matter who specifically paid their way as long as they have enough money to operate? Unlike most entities, a fire department has much more of a moral obligation to provide their services.