Brunswick County Commissioners hear update on future of in-county fire services

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — On Monday evening, the Brunswick County manager provided an update to the County Commissioners regarding in-county fire services, as many departments continue to struggle with underfunding.

A couple of ideas being considered include implementing a fire tax, rather than a fire fee, or using $10 million or more from the county’s general fund on a one-time basis.

Commissioner Mike Forte said some chiefs are hoping to get the money now to purchase new equipment.

“I had a chief scream at me, ‘Just give me the money,'” Forte said. “And I said to him ‘Chief, are you under the impression I’m going to hand you 500,000 to a million dollars for your little tiny department and there’s no strings attached to that?’ He said ‘No, there shouldn’t be. I’m the fireman, not you.”

Along with those ideas, a drafted new contract has also recently been presented to the Brunswick County Fire Chiefs Association.

As county manager Steve Stone explains, a letter sent last week to county staff from the association voiced concerns about the proposed contract.

“Basically saying that they did not like performance standards in the contracts in part because they said they didn’t know what their current level of performance was and they did not think it was appropriate for the county to take ownership of capital equipment going forward,” Stone said.

Any changes to in-county fire services would be part of this year’s budget, which Stone said would give commissioners more time to determine their next steps.

No vote or action was taken during the meeting.

Both Commissioner Forte and Pat Sykes told WWAY that they anticipate the commission will not take any action on the matter for at least 2 months.