Agenda Package - 05-23-11 Budget Review

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oas 0 Northwest Pocket Fire Department Station 9 Northwest Pocket Fire District was one of the districts identified in 2006 as needing a sub - station in order to move residents into a rated fire district. The district has the smallest tax base of any of the districts. This has made adding a sub - station a financial challenge. The cost of the three sub - stations constructed over the past three years average $350,000. Chief Nance and the Board of Directors of Northwest Pocket Fire Department have continued to explore options. In January, the department found a piece of property with two structures. The metal building on the lot is large enough to house two trucks. The dwelling on the lot could be used to house the department's offices and quarters for the paid personnel. The department has been working with Lee County Inspections, The NCDOT, and the Lee County Fire Marshal Office. All indications are the lot would meet the requirement for a sub- station. The deal would allow the department to move forward with bringing a sub - station online. The projections to finalize the deal are approximately $150,000, considerably less then the $350,000 to $400,000 the other sub - stations cost. The department has the trucks already and would not need to purchase any to meet requirements. The Board of Directors of northwest Pocket Fire Department recently finalized financial arrangements to purchase the lot and buildings. The plans are to have the sub - station in operation by late 2011. The sub - station will bring over 246 residences into a rated district or move then from a Class 9 to a Class 6. The savings on insurance premiums far outweigh the cost. The department had submitted a budget request increase of $7,210. The Fire Advisory Board felt the department may have cut the operating budget too thin in order to move forward with the sub- station. During the meeting, Northwest Pocket increased the budget to $191,751. The change is an increase of $13,909 for fiscal year 2011/2012. The end result will be a tax rate increase for FY 11/12 of six tenths to $0.1245100. The Fire Advisory Board unanimously voted to recommend the approval of Northwest Pocket's budget request. In our meeting with the departments, we verified that each had or has scheduled a public hearing. The trend of little to no public comments continues. One would interpret this that the community is pleased with the service the fire departments are providing and are content with the cost required to adequately fund the fire service in Lee County. As we went through the budgets and reviewed the answers from our meeting with the departments, the Fire Advisory Board was well aware of the current economic climate in Lee County. We understand and empathize with the struggles faced by the tax payers. As this is our 6' year in going through the budget process, we are well aware of the cost to operate the fire service in Lee County. We applaud the departments in their effort to minimize the increase in budgets for fiscal year 2011 -2012. The overall increase in fire service cost for FY 2011/2012 is $34,681. This increase includes the forth sub - station, considerable investment and upgrade of the Northview sub - station and the completion of the digital conversion of communication equipment. This is on top of the past year that included the fire service upgrading or adding trucks, the third of four sub - stations online and upgrading communication equipment. The cost to operate the seven volunteer fire