Cleburne County's volunteer firefighters to promote fee rise

Jan. 07--As a March 1 referendum approaches, local firefighters are organizing an effort to persuade Cleburne County residents to vote in favor of giving more tax revenue to the local fire departments.

The firefighters say without the proposed fee, some of the county's 12 volunteer fire departments may not survive.

"I don't know what will happen to us in Ranburne if this don't go through," said Carl Smith, one of the Ranburne volunteer firefighters and secretary of the Cleburne County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments.

The fee -- $50 per year for each residential building, $30 per year for each agricultural building over 2,000 square feet and $150 a year for each commercial building -- will buy one fire engine a year, one set of firefighter gear for each department each year, provide $10,000 a year for training and $15,000 a year for Cleburne Search and Rescue.

Anyone exempt from property taxes will also be exempt from the fire service fee, Smith said. That's about one-third of owner-occupied residences in the county, he said.

"We're going to have to push," said Chad Roberts, president of the Fire Association and member of the Fruithurst department, at the association's Tuesday meeting. "We're pretty much going down the same road we were in '96."

In 1996, the firefighters, without the support of the local political establishment, persuaded residents to approve a 2-mill property tax to fund their local fire departments, Roberts said.

The purchasing power of the 2-mill tax has fallen in the 20 years since it began, though. Now, he said, it covers insurance, utilities and fuel for the departments and little else. During the same time, the cost of equipment and vehicles has skyrocketed, making small fundraisers the volunteer firefighters can do in their spare time inadequate for maintaining the needs of the departments, according to Roberts.

However, at the Fire Association meeting Tuesday, firefighters got some bad news.

The membership of the Cleburne County Republican Party, which controls nearly every elected office in the county, voted at its meeting also on Tuesday to adhere to the principles of the Republican Party for lower taxes and limited government. As such the party will not support the association's proposed fee, said party chairman T.J. Maloney.

Patrick Nolen, chief of the Turkey Heaven department, also opposes the fee. He doesn't like the way the money is being split among the departments under the proposal and would like to see the departments in each fire zone keep the money raised in that zone. That would mean the Heflin Fire Department, which has nearly a third of the population of the county living within its city limits would keep the lion's share of the service fees.

Heflin Fire Chief Jonathan Adams disagreed with Nolen. He said the departments all rely on each other and all should benefit equally from the fees collected.

Fruithurst's fire Chief Larry Attison also waved away the objections.

"Santa Claus ain't gonna bring no new trucks," Attison said.

Attison said he's willing to go out and educate the public.

"There's people out there that have heard about it, but don't understand it," Attison said.

He along with firefighters from all the departments are scheduling public meetings in each department's territory to present the proposal and answer questions. The meetings scheduled so far begin in Heflin on Jan. 19 and continue through the last Saturday in February, Smith said. Four of the departments, including Turkey Heaven, haven't scheduled their meetings yet.

Fire fee meetings:

Jan. 19, Heflin Fire Station, 1335 Ross Street, 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 21, Ranburne Senior Center, 21383 Main Street, 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 23, Fruithurst Senior Center, 48 School Street, 6 p.m.

Jan. 25, Micaville Fire Station, 3384 County Road 10, Heflin, 6:30p.m.

Jan. 26, Abernathy Fire Station, 14326 County Road 66, Heflin, 6 p.m.

Jan 30, Heflin Fire Station, 4 p.m.

Feb. 6, Borden Springs Fire Station, 39155 County Road 49, Piedmont, 3 p.m.

Feb. 8, Hollis Fire Station, 9020 U.S. 431, Heflin, 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 27, Pineywoods Fire Station, 7890 County Road 65, Fruithurst, 6 p.m.

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