Published: May 01, 2008 09:21 pm         

Fire levy

Volunteers need it

You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

It’s probably not the first time you’ve heard that expression. It’s often used in times of personal loss. And few things other than the loss of life are more painful than losing your home in a fire.

Worse yet would be the feeling of hopelessness because the nearby fire department had closed its doors.

Far-fetched? Not really. As Register-Herald reporter Mannix Porterfield pointed out in a recent series, a number of volunteer fire departments in the area are financially strapped, and unless relief is found, they could be forced to shut down.

“There are departments that have just very little resources,” Beaver VFD deputy chief Jim Shannon said. “Some of them are on the brink of going under.”

With equipment, training and ever increasing expenses like fuel and insurance, volunteer fire units, which make up the bulk of fire protection in West Virginia, are feeling the pinch. Locally, Raleigh County puts up $8,000 annually per unit, while the state provides about $10,400 per quarter. That leaves VFDs scraping for every dollar available, and one of their prime sources, bingo, no longer brings in the revenue it once did.

On top of that, only about 25 percent of homeowners in the county are willing to pay a voluntary $25 fire service fee.

Shannon and others believe the time has come for the county to put a special fire levy before the voters, similar to what’s been on the books in Fayette County for more than two decades.

A property tax increase of under $10 a year would produce about $4 million and meet the needs of the county’s 13 VFDs.

Such an election is likely next year.

Raleigh County Commission president Pat Reed emphasized money raised through the levy would be limited to certain expenses, like operational costs and utilities.

“They would be audited just as the Raleigh County Commission is audited annually,” Reed said. “And they would only be allowed to do what was in those regulations for that levy money.”

We believe such a levy is the answer to the VFDs’ problems, and we believe most county residents feel that way. Fire protection is vital to every resident.

Don’t let it reach the point where you’re repeating, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”