Marble Hill Fire District funding becomes hot topic

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — In late January, the city of Marble Hill and Bollinger County disagreed on the county’s cancellation of a 16-year agreement that gave the Marble Hill Fire Department $1,500 a month to pay for purchase and upkeep of extrication equipment.

Presiding Commissioner Travis Elfrink said at the time he thought because the city fire department no longer is the only fire department in the district capable of extrication, the money should be divided among the three fire departments with extrication capabilities. Elfrink also said the contract was supposed to be renegotiated every two years but basically had been forgotten until he came across it recently. Payments continued to be made.

The city objected. City administrator Ron Lutes recently said the contract was to remain in effect unless circumstances created a need to renegotiate.

On Monday, city and county officials met in closed session to discuss the contract. They reached no agreement.

“We discussed what is best for the people and the fire departments throughout the county,” Elfrink said. He said the commissioners agreed to discuss the matter and let the city know what it decided.

Elfrink declined to say what was discussed in the closed session, other than it was a contract negotiation. He said there is no specific time of when the county would make a decision.

According to the contract provided by the county, “The subsidy amount of $1,500 shall be re-negotiated every two years, but shall never be less than the original $1,500.”

According to the commissioners, funding began 16 years ago because Civil Defense wasn’t able to provide rescue services, so the county contracted with the city to provide that service for the county. Since then, two fire districts were formed that can provide rescue service.

The county wants to fairly divide the $1,500 a month among the fire districts and the city fire department. The county also can decide not to fund any of them.

The Marble Hill Fire Department objects to any change in the contract, saying the money is essential. The city fire department is considered a part of the city’s general fund, and its expenses are paid from it.

Fire department expenses from the general fund in 2015 totaled $27,920, or 1.4 percent of the city’s available funds.

The $18,000 from the county is kept in a separate fund and is used mainly for capital expenses. Lutes said the fire department in October committed itself to a seven-year outlay of $22,000 for equipment from the county-funded money before the county canceled the contract. He said the city can pick up some of the deficit for the upkeep of the truck, but not for the equipment. For that, the city needs the county donation.

Without the $18,000 a year from the county, “we will be running a deficit in that account,” Lutes said.

According to information provided by County Collector Sonya Fulton, of the two county fire districts in Bollinger County — North Bollinger County and Zalma — Zalma received $44,989.78 in property taxes in 2015 and North County received $91,437.69. All fire districts in Bollinger County, including Marble Hill, are volunteer.

The Marble Hill Fire Department is not self-sustaining. It would take a vote of the people to establish a district and, because Marble Hill no longer collects a property tax, voters also would have to approve a sales-tax rate to fund it. It is possible its income as a fire district would be substantially larger.

“I don’t know why Marble Hill is not a fire district,” Lutes said. “I don’t know if the citizens would vote for it. Why put another tax on them?”

Lutes said if the fire department became a fire district, it would free up city revenue for other projects.

Lutes said he believes Marble Hill is entitled to the $18,000 a year from the county because its personnel responds to extrication calls throughout the county, rural fire districts don’t always have someone to respond, and fire departments throughout the county have a mutual-aid agreement. Marble Hill has the equipment, manpower and ability to respond to a potential life-threatening situation, he said.

“Too often stuff becomes political,” he said. “We need to handle this in an adult way and make sure everybody is getting what funds they need. The city’s position is the Marble Hill Fire Department because of its location gets called to almost every fire. We back up every fire department. Other fire departments do good things and have the equipment, but don’t always have the manpower.”

“We would just like the commissioners to understand our fire department is performing a service to the county because of our location,” Lutes said. “I wish this (canceling the contract) had come up before we made the commitment on the rescue pumper; it puts us in a bind.”

Pertinent address:

Marble Hill, Mo.