Two Cents Today, for a Safe, Secure Tomorrow

Culpeper Star Exponent

Business Monday

Jim Charapich

April 22, 2013



When can 2 cents today save 40 cents tomorrow? That is the question that we face with the Culpeper County Budget for 2014. The fire and rescue levy on the real estate tax bill provides funding for our hybrid system of career and volunteer fire and rescue services.

The additional 2 cents proposed will provide much needed assistance to the Culpeper volunteer fire and rescue agencies in the replacement of equipment and facilities. The volunteers are not paid staff – they volunteer their time to train and serve our citizens with no expectation of pay. In our current system, our 600 volunteers, 300 of which are fire and rescue service providers are supplemented by 22 career providers. 

The volunteers are in a constant struggle to raise funds with bingo, excellent fundraising dinners, and a variety of other activities. The funds generated are carefully watched, pinched and stretched in order to provide funding for the agencies. This is especially true considering that the current economy keeps many people from giving or spending as much as they normally would at the fundraising events, while the prices of everything from the food they sell, gas and supplies to equipment are constantly increasing. The ever-increasing government regulations on training and equipment are another hurdle the companies face.  Anthony Clatterbuck, President of the Culpeper Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association, said it best: “We just can’t sell that many hot dogs.”

Fauquier County has a similar career/volunteer hybrid system that provides fire and rescue services to their community. The cost to operate the volunteer system in Fauquier is approximately $13 million per year. Our total cost for career and volunteers in Culpeper is approximately $4 million per year. If we had a full career staffed service paid completely by the citizens of Culpeper County, the cost would easily exceed $20 Million per year. That would equate to well over 40 cents per year on the real estate tax rate.

There were over 6,000 calls for service in 2012, an average of over 16 calls per day. Our volunteers have approximately $26 million in assets, with $11.8 million in emergency service vehicles in place through their own efforts. They have created a capital investment plan that takes them through 2040 that includes replacing major fire apparatus on a twenty year cycle and smaller equipment on a 12 year cycle. The levy fund reimburses the volunteers for the operating expenses they pay for in advance and, if approved, the additional 2 cents will provide assistance with the necessary replacement costs.

 

 

Our options are limited in evaluating the additional 2 cents levy proposed to support funding the volunteer fire and rescue emergency services in Culpeper. We can invest now and sustain the life of our current system or risk placing too much stress on the system of volunteers and end up with the entire bill. It’s like replacing the oil in a vehicle. Sure, it costs a little something now; but if we don’t invest now, we will end up with a much bigger bill when the entire engine needs to be replaced.

The old phrase “for what it’s worth, here is my 2 cents” really means something in this case. Two cents to make tomorrow’s needs affordable with the safety and security that we enjoy today.