Creation of fire service district gets a ‘no,’ for now by PATTI STOKES STOKESDALE – Guilford County’s request to approve the creation of a fire service district in Stokesdale was denied at last Thursday’s Stokesdale Town Council meeting by a 2-3 vote. Mayor John Flynt and Mayor Pro Tem Thearon Hooks favored the move, but council members Jimmy Landreth, Derek Foy and Jim Rigsbee were not convinced it was warranted, nor did they feel citizens had ample opportunity to weigh in on the issue before it came to the council for a vote. As he had done in September, Jim Albright, Guilford County Emergency Services director, attended the Nov. 9 meeting and again made his case for why the county was requesting the change, which would create a service district overlay to the current fire protection district (FPD) within the town limits. According to the resolution, a primary objective for creating fire service districts throughout the county is to “create a more modern, flexible, and efficient method to fund and provide fire protection in Guilford County.” Stokesdale and Kimesville are the only two fire districts out of 24 serving Guilford County that do not have fire service districts, Albright noted.
Stokesdale’s FPD was founded in November 1954 with a tax cap of 10 cents (per $100 property value). In 2015, when Stokesdale citizens were asked to approve a 5-cent increase on the fire district’s tax cap, they overwhelmingly did so; the fire tax has not been raised, however, so remains at 10 cents. Since Stokesdale FPD serves citizens in both Guilford and Rockingham counties, Councilman Derek Foy asked if fire tax receipts must be separately accounted for, especially if the fire tax rate is different by county. Albright said it isn’t uncommon for fire districts to cross county lines, and stressed, “This is not a request to increase taxes. It is a mechanism by which taxes are collected.” “But with this overlay, are there two pots that will be need to be managed – Guilford and Rockingham?” Foy persisted. “It all goes into one pot – we are one district,” Stokesdale fire chief Todd Gauldin responded. “When we do our budget, we take money from both pots and budget line items to serve the entire fire district.” Councilman Jimmy Landreth expressed concern that adding the fire service district would eliminate the fire tax cap for Stokesdale citizens, while
Rockingham County citizens would still have a cap. “We could go up to 17 or 18 cents, but they could stay at 10 cents,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of people know what’s going on and we’re talking about voting to take a cap off … if you (Gauldin) and Randy (Southard, deputy chief) were going to be there forever, I wouldn’t be concerned about it.” When Mark Richardson, a Rockingham County commissioner, asked what Stokesdale Fire District’s fund balance is, board member Sammy Pegram
answered it is about $1.5 million. “Is the fire district short of money?” Richardson then asked. Albright interjected, saying the Stokesdale fire district has been very fiscally conservative and historically paid for equipment and other capital expenses as they go along. “I’m a strong supporter of the fire department, but you don’t need money; you have the opportunity to raise fire tax 50% (from 10 cents to 15 cents) – why would any tax-paying citizen want
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Oak Ridge Youth Association presents the
2021 Turkey Trot 5K Nov. 27, 9:30 am Oak Ridge Town Park
$20 for race & T-shirt if you sign up by Nov. 13
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The Northwest Observer • Totally local since 1996
NOV. 18 - DEC. 1, 2021
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