Fire officials renew plea

A proposal to move fire district tax rates in Sampson toward revenue neutral amid a countywide revaluation has been met with opposition from local fire chiefs, who expressed their desire during a budget public hearing Monday night to see the rates remain where they are. The chiefs said the additional revenue that would come as a result is necessary to stay operational, citing needed equipment replacement and training requirements and, in some cases, the need to add paid staff to ensure coverage.

A public hearing on the proposed 2024-25 plan was held during Monday night’s regular Sampson County Board of Commissioners meeting and consisted entirely of comments on the proposed fire tax rates. The board breezed through the rest of its agenda and recessed to reconvene on Monday, June 10, at 10 a.m. for a budget work session.

The 2024-25 recommended Sampson County budget includes no proposed tax rate hike. The rate itself is proposed to drop by 20 cents from 82.5 cents to 62.5 cents per $100 valuation, deemed the revenue-neutral rate as property values spike since the county’s last revaluation five years ago.

Fire tax rates are similarly proposed to be modified to the revenue-neutral rate, some dropping 2-3 cents, however those modified rates are projected to produce estimated revenues higher than what was requested for the coming budget year, county officials said. The revenue-neutral rates for fire tax districts are expected to generate revenue of $4,280,723 across the board in 2024-25, a $467,323 increase over the $3,813,400 in revenues projected from the district tax requested.

“All fire departments are projected to receive more revenue than what was presented in their respective budgets to the fire commission that was reviewed earlier this year,” County Manager Ed Causey said during his budget presentation last month.

During Monday’s hearing, fire chiefs asked that the current rates stay intact, with most departments currently standing between 8-10 cents. They cited rising prices of equipment and trucks, as well as the skyrocketing expense to renovate and construct new facilities, and the necessity to stay up with training and staffing expenses.

The additional funds received by keeping tax rates where they are would be a boon to keep up, many said. Many echoed the feeling of those fire officials who spoke at last month’s regular meeting, a standing room-only affair where the issue of the fire tax rates was broached by many.

Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton was one of half a dozen chiefs who on Monday asked that the city’s fire tax rate stay at 10 cents.

“If you look at my budget, you can see where I’m using every bit of that,” said Thornton. “My budget is supposed to go up roughly $208,000, but with that I’m running right at 1,000 calls a year. I’ve got guys without two sets of turnout gear. We’re trying to make sure our guys are safe. When they come back from a call, we want them to have a second set of gear to put on, and we want to get that other gear washed. With this money, that’s what we would be using that for. I’d appreciate your consideration in leaving that at 10 cents.”

Lee Kennedy, chief for the Faison Fire Department, said the additional funds keeping the fire tax rate figure where it is would pay for nighttime staffing. While the Faison department is located in Duplin, it serves Sampson, assisting Piney Grove, Turkey, Halls and Newton Grove on fire and other emergency calls.

“We’ve had calls that it takes us a few minutes to get out of the bed, if you’re home, and get to the truck,” said Kennedy. “But if we put somebody there at night, they can get out on that truck and can get to somebody in 4-6 minutes and start putting oxygen or a defibrillator on somebody and help save their life. Getting them quicker is the essential thing, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Taylors Bridge Fire Chief Alan Williams, who served as the county fire chief, reiterated the sentiments of others: keep the tax rate where it is currently. For Taylors Bridge, that’s also 10 cents.

“We’re just asking you to stay at 10 cents, like where we’ve been in the past,” Williams remarked. “We’re going to use that to purchase a new truck, pay for more staffing and that will allow us to serve our community better — the people in the southern area around Delway and back toward Waycross. Without that money, we can’t grow. We’re going to be limited to where we’re at.

“As county fire chief, I’ll speak on behalf of all these fire chiefs and all the volunteers,” said Williams. “They’re just here to help. They want to help the citizens and the people that pass through this county. That’s all we’re asking for.”

Piney Grove Fire Department’s Richard Aman cited aging trucks, the operation of two stations and the need for good turnout gear, along with the recent theft of $184,000 worth of equipment from the department.

“We’re just asking for our 7.5 cents. This past year, we had $108,000 in repairs on our trucks. We’ve got 21-year-old trucks. We’re the second-lowest funded in the county on the tax basis. I’m not asking for anything extra — I just want exactly what we’ve been getting, because it takes every dime of it for us to operate.”

Representatives from Ivanhoe and Clement were also among those who spoke during the hearing. Submitted comments from Salemburg Fire Department Chief Robert S. Owen and Jeffrey Tyler, board of directors chairman for Vann Crossroads Fire Department, echoed similar sentiments, asking for current fire tax rates to stay intact.

“With the rising costs and increasing mandates, it is becoming more and more difficult to operate our department on our previous budgets,” Tyler stated. “While staying at the 10 cents rate will not cure all our issues, it will address many of them. If we are allowed to retain the current tax rate, we will invest the additional money into being able to better serve our community.”

According to Tyler, that includes paying part-time staff to man the station from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as investing funds into matching grants that can provide new, in-date gear, radios and truck maintenance/

“We can see the importance of increasing our contributions to savings as the cost of trucks continues to skyrocket,” Tyler stated. “Our newest truck currently is a 2007 model, and we must begin to plan and prepare for the future. There will be a day very soon that a truck purchase will be a necessity for our department.”

The Fire Association recommended an increase for three fire departments, including the Roseboro Fire Department and the Herring Fire Department in the amount of 1.5 cents, and the Turkey Fire Department for 1 cent.

Based on revenue-neutral calculations, fire tax rates for districts in Sampson County as well as the Supplemental Current Expense Tax for the Clinton City Schools were similarly adjusted according to the revenue-neutral tax rate. While the county property tax rate was rounded down, those rates for fire departments and schools were adjusted upward to the nearest half cent, the county manager noted.

State law requires that local governments publish a revenue-neutral tax rate in the budget following the completion of the general reappraisal of real property, a process that will now be every four years for Sampson. The revenue-neutral rate is the rate that is estimated to produce revenue for the next fiscal year equal to the revenue for the fiscal year prior to revaluation if no reappraisal had occurred. The rate, according to state law, is then adjusted by a growth factor equal to the average percentage increase in the tax base since the last general reappraisal.

The reappraisal produced an estimated tax base of $7,036,110,841 for Sampson County, county officials said. The estimated tax levy for fiscal year 2024-2025 is $43,556,402, and the average growth factor since the last general reappraisal is 1.60%. Using the formula mandated by state law, the revenue neutral rate for Sampson County is 62.9 cents, Causey pointed out.

“We are recommending an actual tax rate of 62.5 cents,” Causey previously explained. “Based on the revenue neutral tax rate, some Sampson County taxpayers will pay higher taxes than last year due to higher property values, and some taxpayers will pay lower taxes due to lower property values. The purpose of the revaluation is to proportionately redistribute the tax base. Based on the estimated tax base, a penny on the tax rate and a 97% collection rate generates about $682,500.”

The full 2024-25 budget presentation, in document and video form, as well as the unabridged 780-page recommended budget, can be found at sampsonnc.com.