New Fire Protection District Proposed for Rural MO

Volunteer firefighters in rural Adair County are asking voters in the April 2 election to approve the creation of a Fire Protection District, which would allow them to collect funding through assessed property taxes rather than annual membership dues.

In a press release, the Novinger Community Volunteer Fire Association and Adair County Rural Fire Department said the change would increase revenue for the department while decreasing the amount paid yearly for most property owners.

"The biggest reason that it's better for us is that everybody pays and it's a more stable revenue stream," Adair County Rural Fire Chief Brad Ray said.

Currently, the press release said, only 65 percent of rural Adair County residents pay membership dues.

Ray said under the current system, everyone pays the same membership fee whether they have a small property or an expensive, multi-acre lot. In a Fire Protection District, the amount paid would be based on the property's value as determined by the Adair County Assessor's office.

The Fire Protection District would take in an estimated $260,000 per year, Ray said, while the volunteer fire departments took in approximately $160,000 in 2018.

Ray said this would not be a dramatic increase over the amount the departments would be collecting if all property owners would pay their membership dues. He said many do not pay because they are out-of-state landowners who assume fire protection is already covered by their taxes, while others refuse because they believe the lack of differentiation based on property value is unfair.

Though the Fire Protection District would not initially have any paid employees, the funds would cover expenses such as insurance and equipment. Ray said the eventual goal would be to have paid, on-duty personnel.

"The biggest impact that we could have on the county now is being there faster, and the only way we can do that is to have on-duty personnel," Ray say.

Ray said it also takes significant time and work to maintain the membership system and that under the new system there would no longer be a need to send bills after the fact to people who need the help of emergency responders but have not paid their membership dues.

"Everyone should have access to the same services," Ray said.

The proposal will appear on the ballots of all Adair County residents excluding those living in the City of Kirksville, the municipality of Greentop and the Adair County portion of the La Plata Fire Protection District.

Ray said many people have asked him whether the new Fire Protection District would affect their insurance rates. He said fire protection's impact on those rates is based on a property's distance from the nearest fire hydrant, so the new model would not have an immediately effect, but increased revenue could lead to the installation of more fire hydrants in the future.

Firefighters will hold a series of four town-hall meetings to answer public questions, which will take place Wednesday and March 14 at the Novinger Fire Station and March 6 and 14 at the Keller Building in Brashear.

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