Tega Cay doused fire budget concerns with volunteers ‘100 percent’ on board

Sept. 29--TEGA CAY -- Tega Cay put its fire issue out in time to fund the city moving forward, and with nearly a week to spare.

Tega Cay City Council finalized its budget Sept. 25. The city's new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. Council passed both of the needed readings in eight days, after holding off voting in August on a $14.48 million city budget because of concerns about volunteer fire funding.

Firefighter Les Woods was concerned about $16,000 budgeted for volunteer firefighters in the $1.36 million budgeted for all firefighters, which includes adding three paid positions. Woods said their station needs upgrades, and volunteers need money for training, education, recruitment and retention.

By the time Council came back to the budget vote, meetings between city staff, paid firefighters and volunteers produced results.

"We are 100 percent in favor of the budget that the city manager is presenting to you tonight," Woods told Council at its first budget reading Sept. 18. "A lot of work went into it. A lot of discussion. And a lot of good things came out of it."

Woods also smothered any notion that paid staff and volunteers aren't on the same page, or can't work together.

"We are one fire department," he said. "We've set a great foundation to provide outstanding service to the residents."

City manager Charlie Funderburk kept three new paid hires in the budget. He added funding at the levels volunteers requested for insurance on the fire station and for workers' compensation. Funderburk went outside the city for answers on how to meet fire service needs both with paid and volunteer staffing.

"We created a new line item within the fire department budget," Funderburk said. "Checking with other cities that do have volunteers and a paid department, moving to something more like what they do and that's a pay per call."

The new $5,000 volunteer response line item is based on certifications and services rendered, and could help with other volunteer goals such as recruiting and training.

"Hopefully that will incentivize additional folks to become volunteers with the fire department, to get the necessary certifications and keep up with the training," Funderburk said.

Police and fire annually make up a significant part of the city's general fund, the largest among several revenue streams used to run the city. The more than $14 million total budget for the new year does not include a tax rate increase.

John Marks: 803-326-4315, @JohnFMTimes

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