6-7-21 BOC Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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LEE COUNTY Committed Today for a Better Tomorrow May 7, 2021 Kirk Smith, Chair Lee County Board of Commissioners Lee County Government Center Sanford, North Carolina 27330 Dear Chair Smith: The Lee County Fire Advisory Board has completed its annual review of the budget requests from the Lee County volunteer fire departments for fiscal year 2021/2022. On April 13th, the Fire Advisory Board met to review and discuss the budget requests from each of the county volunteer fire departments. During the budget review, we developed a list of questions and/or concerns related to each department's budget request. The list of questions was then sent to the respective Fire Chief for each department. On April 27th, the Fire Advisory Board met with representatives from each of the fire departments to answer questions, discuss concerns, and review the data. After the meeting between the Fire Advisory Board and the representatives from the fire departments, the Fire Advisory Board reviewed the information discussed during the meeting. Based on those discussions and the budget requests submitted, the Fire Advisory Board would like to make the following recommendations: Tramway Fire Department Tramway Fire Department is requesting an increase in their budget of$7,328 or 1.6%. The department is increasing personnel salaries by$8,908 for a cost-of-living raise and an increase in part-time hours. The department is once again applying for a FEMA Grant, in hopes to replace their aging SCBA (Self- Contained Breathing Apparatus). The department was unsuccessful with their grant application for 2020, so they are re-submitting the application for 2021. Tramway Fire District's tax base grew by about $12.7 million. The growth in the tax base and utilizing$8,000 of fund balance would be enough to cover the increase in the budget request. The Fire Advisory Board is recommending Tramway Fire Department's budget as requested with the current tax rate of$0.096. Deep River Fire Department Deep River Fire Department has a budget increase of$1,060 or 0.03%over their current year budget. The department has a $10,000 increase in turn-out gear, as they continue to work on replacing aging gear. The department increased its SCBA line by$6,000 to replace air bottles. The department has 1