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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAttachment Ai A#"rozA A County Responsibilities for Fire Protection Briefing Report for Orange County Emily Anderson, MPA candidate School of Government University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 11/9/2007 This paper represents work done by a UNC Chapel Hill Master of Public Administration student as a supervised project. It is not a formal report of the Institute of Government, nor is it the work of School of Government faculty. Counties have no legal responsibility for fire protection. However, there are various state statutes that outline legal requirements and options if a county chooses to provide this service. This briefing memo summarizes these. It also includes background information on fire service provision in several comparison North Carolina counties. ff Introduction The purpose of this report is to discuss the legal responsibilities of the County in the area of fire protection services, how a county can legally provide and fund fire services, and compare fire protection methods used in Orange County to similarly sized counties in North Carolina. Legal Responsibilities" Summary of Law Counties are not required by law to provide fire protection. However, as the demand for fire protection outside city limits is growing, counties are more often providing rural fire protection. Ways Counties Can Provide Fire Protection Services There are a variety of ways counties can legally provide fire protection and prevention services. Under G.S. 153A -233 a county may: • Establish, equip, support, and maintain its own fire department • Provide financial assistance to incorporated volunteer fire departments • Contract for fire- fighting and prevention services with other counties, cities, other units of local government, State agencies, or one or more incorporated volunteer fire departments • Designate fire districts and prescribe boundaries for insurance grading purposes Establishing a County Fire Department While a county can establish its own fire department under G.S. 153A -233, counties generally do not use this option. Rather, they contract with city or, more often, volunteer fire departments. Contracts with Cities Under G.S. 160A -293, if a contract is made between a city and a county or a city and the owner of private property a city may install and maintain water mains, hydrants, and other equipment outside its corporate limits. The city may also send fireman and equipment outside its limits to provide protection. Employees of the city fire department have the same privileges and immunities that they have within the city limits while engaged in a duty at the order of the Fire Chief or City Council outside of the city. Contracts with Incorporated (Rural) Volunteer Fire Departments G.S. 153A -233 gives a county the right to make a contract with one or more incorporated volunteer fire departments to provide rural fire protection in a designated area for a fixed fee. "When a county enters into a contract with a volunteer fire department... the volunteer department then functions as a county fire department for all intents and purposes' . The area protected by this department is designated by the board of county commissioners and generally referred to as an insurance district or response district. 1 The information in this report was found in: Denning, Shea R. and Richard D. Ducker. CgMM and Municipal Government in North Carolina Article 33: Fire Protection. School of Government UNC- Chapel Hill: 2007 Loeb, Ben F. Fire Protection in North Carolina: Fifth Edition. Institute of Government UNC- Chapel Hill: 1993 North Carolina General Statutes 2 County an Municipal Government Article 33 p. 2 3 County Actors in Providing Fire Services Counties may appoint a fire marshal or assign the duties of a fire marshal to other county employees. The county board of commissioners sets the duties of the fire marshal including but not limited to, advising the board on improvements and assisting volunteer fire departments in improving their capabilities. (G.S. 153A -234) In addition, the board of county commissioners can appoint a three - person fire protection district commission to administer funds to provide fire protection to the district (G.S. 69 -25.7) under the supervision of the county commissioners. Funding County Fire Protection Services There are a variety of ways in which a county can finance rural fire protection services: • Appropriate general fund revenue • Establish a rural fine protection district funded by property taxes in response to resident property owner petition and a vote • The board of commissioners may designate certain areas as service districts and taxes can be levied to fund fire protection. Like a rural fire district, a service district does require additional taxes, but does not require a vote • Fire protection may be funded privately Rural Fire Protection Districts (Chapter 69 of the North Carolina General Statutes) According to G.S. 69 -25.1, to establish a tax - supported rural fire protection district 35 percent of residents living in areas outside of the corporate limits of cities or towns must petition for the establishment of a rural fire district. After this petition, the board of county commissioners must call an election in the district designated by the petition to ask "qualified voters" for the approval of a special tax on property to provide fire protection in the district. This tax may not exceed 15 cents per $100 of property value. If a rural fire district was established with a valuation of 10 cents per $100 of property value, the board of county commissioners may call an election in that district to increase the maximum tax rate to 15 cents. Money generated by this tax should be kept in a special fund used only to furnish fire protection within the rural fire district. In this case, the taxes levied for fire protection may also be used for emergency medical, rescue, and ambulance services. (G.S. 69 -25.4) G.S. 69 -25.5 describes ways in which the board of county commissioners may use the money collected under the tax levied in the rural fire district. County commissioners may use the funds levied by this tax to provide fire protection by: • Contracting with an incorporated city or town • Contracting with an incorporated nonprofit volunteer fire department or community fire department • Contracting with the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources • Furnishing protection itself if the county has its own fire department • Establishing its own fire department • Using any two or more of the above listed methods Service Districts Under the County Services District Act of 1973, the board of county commissioners may create a service district in order to finance, provide, or maintain traditional urban services. This includes fire protection services (153A -301). In order to establish a service district, the board of county H commissioners must hold a public hearing before adopting the final resolution which creates the district. In order to establish a district, it is necessary that all of the following apply: • Demonstrable need • It is impossible or impractical to provide those services on a countywide basis • It is economically feasible to provide those services to the district without unreasonable taxes • Demonstrable demand in the district (153A- 302(al)) A special district only for fire services may also be taxed, by resolution from the board of county commissioners under G.S. 153A -309, to provide emergency medical, rescue, and ambulance services. Under G.S. 153A -307, the county may levy additional property taxes in the service area to finance the service as well as use unrestricted money from the general funds. In addition, the board of county commissioners can adopt a resolution within the first 90 days before the public hearing to create the service district to limit the service tax to 15 cents per $100 of property (G.S. 153A- 309.2). Overall, the service district and county tax may not exceed $1.50 per $100 of property value (G.S. 153A -307). Insurance Districts Under G.S. 153A -233, the board of county commissioners may designate rural fire districts as insurance districts. In this case, the board of commissioners set boundaries for insurance- grading purposes. These districts are served by a rural fire department but are not supported by a specific district tax. One advantage of creating an insurance district is that property owners may receive reduced fire insurance rates if the district is approved. In order to provide fire protection for these districts, the county generally contracts with a volunteer or city fire department and pays for this protection with unrestricted general funds. County and rural fire departments, communications, and water supplies are evaluated by the Office of the State Fire Marshal on a scale of 1 to 10 for insurance purposes. Property insurance rates in the jurisdiction of a fire department with a 9 rating will be the highest and 1 will be the lowest. A rating of 10 considers that jurisdiction to have no fire protection. To achieve a 9S (9) rating, several requirements must be met, including the fire department must be incorporated, a fire station must be within 5 road miles of the property, and the department must have a minimum of 20 personnel (18 designated as firefighters). A complete list of these requirements can be found at bM://www.ncdoi.com/OSFM/RI/Documents/9S Requirement.pdf. Training, Prevention, and Inspection The State Fire and Rescue Commission, part of the North Carolina Department of Insurance, establishes minimum qualifications for fire and rescue service personnel. Firefighters may go through a voluntary certification program in which the performance standards are based on the National Fire Protection Administration (NFPA) standards (G.S. 58 -78). In addition, individual departments may require addition training or certification. The fire prevention code is part of the North Carolina State building Code. Local governments are responsible for enforcing this code and administering prevention programs. In general, fire inspectors are responsible to enforce to code. These inspectors must go through the certification requirements of the North Carolina Code Officials Qualification Board and can work from a variety of place including a municipal fire department, inspection department, or development department. W Annexation North Carolina cities are increasingly annexing parts of rural fire protection or service districts. In this case, the city must plan to provide the annexed portion of the district with all the major municipal services it provides (G.S. 160A -47). However, annexations decrease the tax base supporting the fire departments in rural districts. One solution is found under G.S. 160A -49.1, the city should make a general good effort to negotiate a five year contract with the rural fire department by paying the rural department the revenue that the district would have generated. This is only a brief overview of the results of annexation on fire protection in rural areas. County Comparisons Following is some information on how counties of similar to Orange County, in terms of square miles and population, provide fire services to their county.3 The descriptions here are based on information gathered from county websites and the county's fire marshal offices. The following descriptions of county fire services focuses generally on the number of fire districts and the funding of services; this is not a complete comparison of county fire services in North Carolina. A more comprehensive comparison may involve size of county fire districts, square mileage of a stations response area, and the type and acquisition of equipment, and county's insurance ratings. Orange County "8 volunteer fire departments within Orange County and two municipal fire departments provide fire and EMS first responder protection to Orange County's 12 fire districts. 2 departments in bordering counties provide fire and EMS first responder protection to Orange County. Orange County employs a full -time Fire Marshal, and Assistant Fire Marshal, a part -time Fire Marshal and a fire/EMS training coordinator. Each department elects its officers and is a member of the Countywide Fire Association. There are a total of approximately 250 fire department volunteers. 2 volunteer rescue squads provide emergency rescue services to Orange County. Most departments provide Basic Life Support (BLS) service. Each department elects its officers and is a member of the Countywide Fire Association. There are a total of approximately 75 rescue squad volunteers."'(Background, original Orange County Fire Assessment Plan Request for Proposal) The volunteer fire departments are State chartered, private, non -profit corporations that have contracts with the County to provide fire protection services. The fire districts are tax supported. The County collects the tax for each department and the Finance Director distributes the monies in accordance with the terms of the contract. Each district also has an insurance district for insurance grading purposes. The insurance districts are 5 mile districts at the present time; residents and businesses that are within 5 road miles of the fire station(s) within the district receive insurance premiums based on the rating of the district. Alamance County All of the county fire departments in Alamance County are a combination of volunteer and paid. There are 11 County fire districts with one department operating in each district. These departments may have substations within the district. In addition, the County has mutual aid 3 Except as noted, information was gathered from websites or direct contact (email or telephone) with the fire marshal's office in the respective county. r agreements with municipal fire departments, however no municipal fire department is contracted to provide explicit service to a rural area outside of its municipal jurisdiction. Many of the districts were established in the 1950s and 1960s before the office of the fire marshal was created and had State charters. Each department is funded by property taxes. The tax bases differ between counties. Each fire department makes a request and budget and sends it to the commissioners in order for the tax base to be determined. Catawba County Catawba County has 15 fire departments which serve the entire county. Each department serves 1 district, although departments have more than one station within the district. Of these 15 departments, 14 are in the County and 1 is outside the county but serves a rural district within Catawba. In addition, several of these departments are city fire departments; however they have contracts with the County to provide fire services in rural areas outside of the city limit. These city departments request revenue from the county to protect the rural fire districts. All fire departments in the County are tax based. There is a fire tax in addition to the property tax levied in each fire district. The average fire tax among the districts in Catawba is 5.5 cents per $100 property value. Each districts request rates from the board of county commissioners and the rates are decided during the budget process. 14 of the 15 district were established as a service district by the board of county commissioners and 1 of the districts was created through citizen petition and vote. "The Catawba County Fire Marshal's Office assists in coordinating fire department functions in the County, while keeping the Board of Commissioners informed of fire department activities by working with and through the Director of Emergency Services. The Fire Marshal's Office is responsible for conducting a regular fire inspection program of all public buildings to improve public safety." (Catawba County Emergency Services website) Iredell County Iredell County has 19 County fire districts and departments. Some of these departments have more then one station in a district. In addition, 5 of the districts are in more than 1 county. 2 cities in the County also have their own fire department. Each County district is the area within 6 road miles of a fire station. County volunteer fire departments are funded by a fire tax of 6 cent per $100 of property value (This tax was just raised in June 2007). The money levied by this tax is then distributed to the departments by the fire tax board. Three departments (not city departments) in Iredell or that serve part of Iredell are in fire -tax districts and do not share the County revenues. A fourth volunteer department is also trying to become part of a fire -tax district; this is up for election in the November 2007 election ( "Troutman Fire Department" statesville.com). The office of the Fire Marshal consists of 2 Deputy Fire Marshals and 1 Program Assistant to insure that the North Carolina Fire Prevention Code (North Carolina Building Code Volume V) is enforced in the County limits. The role of the Fire Marshal includes prevention of loss of life and property due to hazardous materials, man-made hazards and other natural hazards. The Fire Marshal accomplishes these goals through the enforcement of national, state, and local fire codes and the provision of fire prevention and safety preparedness programs. 7 Rowan Counyy4 The Fire Service in Rowan County is made up of 32 fire districts that include 29 contracted volunteer or municipal fire departments with a total of 41 stations across the county. All of the fire districts established in non - municipal areas of Rowan County have individual tax rates that are set for the purpose of providing funding for that district's fire protection program. The Rowan County Board of Commissioners appoint citizen representatives from each non - municipal fire district every two years as Tax District Commissioners to work with that fire district's Board of Directors in regard to budget planning and expenditures of tax funds for that fire district. Annually, individual non - municipal fire department's Board of Directors establishes an operations budget that is submitted to the County Board of Commissioners for review and approval, as part of the Rowan County Budget. The Fire Division (Fire Marshall) is in the County's Emergency Services Department continues to be the lead county agency in fire investigations. The Division works with individual fire departments to help reduce their I.S.O. ratings. The Fire Division also aides fire departments in establishing tax or service districts for funding. Wayne Counyy5 Wayne County is home to 28 Volunteer Fire Departments. These departments are rated by the North Carolina Department of Insurance and range from 4 to 9s. The Fire Marshal's Office serves as a liaison between county government and the volunteer fire departments to assist with the budget process, standards compliance, fire reporting, and trainingleducation. One person is maintained on an On -Call status 24 hours per day and is available to respond to any county incident to assist with Incident Command as well as investigating fires in order to determine origin and cause. Fire departments, services, and fire marshal are part of the Wayne County Office of Emergency Services. 4 All information about Rowan County is from the Rowan County Emergency Services website S All information about Wayne County is from the Wayne County Emergency Services website