Newton Grove Fire and Rescue Chief Daniel Warwick discusses with the Newton Grove town board plans to request a fire tax increase from the county.
Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent
The request for fire tax changes seems to be an ongoing trend around Sampson County, as members from Newton Grove Fire and Rescue came before town officials to let members know they will be petitioning for a bump in their fire district tax.
The proposal for this increase comes on the heels of the Clinton Fire Department seeking and receiving approval to request a 2 cent per $100 valuation of its district fire tax tax from the Sampson County Board of Commissioners.
Presenting the need for a 2 cent fire tax change in Newton Grove was Fire Chief Daniel Warwick, who said he felt the increase was justified after he raised concerns over the state of the fire department’s budget in recent years.
“I’m coming to you with some questions and concerns on funding of the fire department from the town,” he said. “Over the last several years, and I’ve gone back through different budgets, 2017 to 2018, we received $43,067 from the town. In 2020, 2021 the budget was $44,310, and for the last three years that number been about $46,000. As you see over the course of about seven years, there’s been very little change, less than $3,000.
“As you all know, everything in the world and this country has increased since then,” Warwick continued. “Newton Grove Fire and Rescue has a service district within Samson County that is taxed currently at 6 cents per $100 tax value. We also have a service district within Johnston County that is taxed at 12 cent per $100 of tax valuation. We feel the revenue for our service district within the town of Newton Grove should be based on the same tax rate as our Sampson County Service District (8 cent per $100).”
That request Warwick said was also fair based on the degree of responsibility and service the fire department provides.
“We feel it’s only fair to collect the same amount per $100 of tax value inside the town as we do outside in the county district, especially when all are receiving the same level of service, and in most cases, folks in town are a little better served because of the response time,” he said.
“About 96 percent of our commercial structures in our fire district are in the town limits,” he added. “These commercial structures require a lot more work on the fire department, a lot more equipment and a lot more responsibilities. As far as needing use of larger capacity pumps, meeting fire flows per DOI (U.S. Department of Interior) standards and we have to do yearly pre-planning on these structures.”
As Warwick alluded to, cost was one of the key reasons for the proposed increase.
“As I mentioned, everything in our country over the years has gone up and here are just a few instances for us,” he said. “PPE, which includes helmets, gloves, coats, pants, boots and a hook for each fireman, DOI makes us replace those every 10 years, worn or not. Average cost of that right now is $5,000, that’s to equip one fireman a year.”
To paint a more vivid picture of that cost per fireman, Warwick said their roster has 29 members and five junior members. He also noted that each of those members were volunteers, and in 2024 they responded to a total of 292 calls for service.
”We’ve also got a 2023 truck sitting in our building right now that was ordered in 2021 and came in 2023,” Warwick said. “We have a total cost of $655,000 invested in it. That same today is over $950,000. That’s just an idea of some of our cost. That’s not even including our everyday costs, such as fuel maintenance, insurance, general supplies, utilities; all that adds up.”
He also highlighted the need for a contract update from the town which, according to Warwick, hadn’t changed since 1999. That contract, he said, states the fire department was supposed to be funded per the rural fire tax rate.
“I’ve been talking with Amanda (Baggett, town clerk) on this for the last couple of weeks,” Warwick said. “We’ve been back and forth, and the last contract I can find between the fire department and the Town of Newton Grove was done in 1999. It says, in paragraph four, ‘The town shall agree to provide funding to the fire department by applying the Rural Fire Tax Rate to the assessed valuation of property within the town to be paid to the department quarterly.’”
He continued, “I don’t know when, but sometime in the past, before I or Amanda got these position, somewhere we’ve gone astray from that. So what I want to do is come to an agreement with the town, whether through assessing the tax rate on the tax bill or however we want to do it. We just need to come to an agreement and possibly update the contract. We’re looking at a contract that’s fairly old, and that way moving forward, we’re not in this same boat every two or three years, whenever there’s a reevaluation done, or changes in tax value which change every year.”
Mayor Craig Warren opened discussion to town commissioners, but no questions were posed. There was no vote on Warwick’s request either, however, Warren did advise the fire chief that steps to address his request were going to happen.
“We’ll take this under advisement and we’ll be talking to legal to make sure with the county that everything is the way it’s supposed to be, and we’ll come up with some sort of a plan,” Warren said. “I know you and Amanda have been working hard on it, so again, we will get together and come up with some sort of a plan. We’ve talked to legal, too, to make sure that everything we’re doing is right.”
As with the city, the request for a fire district tax increase for Newton Grove has to be approved by the Sampson County Board of Commissioners, something Warwick said he was prepared to present.
“Where we are now, we are asking for a two cent tax increase next fiscal year,” he said. “I’m not sure if we’ll get it yet or not, but that will be to have two part-time folks at the Newton Grove Fire Department during the daytime, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, should this is all be approved.”
“You are doing that two percent through the county correct?” Warren asked.
“Yes, right now we’re at 6 cent tax and we’re requesting a 2 cent increase, which will put us at 8 cent per $100 evaluation,” Warwick replied. “That’ll be district-wide but I’ll have to get approval from the county. I’ve got an upcoming public hearing at the fire station on the matter and after that public hearing the request will go before the county.
“Pending that approval, afterwards, it’ll be up to you guys to decide rather you want to do a tax or contract rate change, that’s up to you,” he added. “So again, we came here to ask for funding of the tax rate per valuation, just like our county folks pay. We feel it’s only fair that everybody in our fire district pays the same rate. So I’ve just come to you guys to say, let’s try to get this right.”
Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.