Jones County officials explain proposed fire protection service district
JONES COUNTY — Jones County officials are trying to answer residents’ questions about a proposed fire protection service district that would add a separate fire-related tax to most property tax bills while creating a dedicated funding source for the county’s volunteer fire departments.
The proposal follows a $30,000 fire study commissioned by the county and presented to the Jones County Board of Commissioners during its February retreat. County Manager Kyle Smith said the county worked with a consulting group endorsed by the N.C. Association of County Commissioners to review fire service needs and funding options.
After further discussion at a March work session, county officials began looking more closely at a hybrid model that included creation of a fire protection service district overlay.
“Essentially, this will be a separate tax specific to the property parcels that were included in this district overlay with the ultimate goal of improving financial leverage and funding availabilities to the rural fire departments,” Smith said. “We have seven volunteer fire departments here in Jones County. And from there, we have a lot of these departments that have older apparatuses. And so this is an effort to set aside capital funding at the county level to help these fire departments get newer equipment, turnout gear, trucks, that type of thing.”
The proposed district would include all of Jones County except Oak Grove Marine Corps Outlying Landing Field, which is federally owned and operated by Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Smith said the area was excluded because it does not pay property taxes.
The service district tax would be restricted for fire protection services in Jones County.
The proposal was included in Smith’s recommended budget for fiscal year 2026-27 at a rate of 3 cents per $100 of valuation. Smith said one penny on the Jones County tax rate generates about $123,000, meaning the proposed 3-cent fire district tax would generate just over $350,000.
Smith said the rate could change in future budget years.
“Next year the proposed budget could be a 2 cent service district tax. It could be a 4 cent service district tax,” Smith said. “Of course understand that Jones County has operated very conservatively in the past and we are certainly taking that into account.”
Emergency Services Director Ryan “Sissy” Mills said the proposed rate would cost the owner of a $265,000 property about $79.50 per year.
“That being said, you would pay roughly $79.50 for this fire service district overlay that’s proposed, and that’s at a three cent proposal,” Mills said.
Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Coordinator Aaron Kite said the proposal is meant to address uneven fire funding across the county. Existing fire taxes vary by fire district, and a penny of tax revenue does not generate the same amount in every area.
“For example, if you live in Comfort Fire Department’s district, that one cent generates much less than what, say, a one cent tax rate in the Maysville or Pollocksville or Trenton area, just because of population rates and property ownership rates,” Kite said.
Kite said the goal is to create a countywide capital improvement plan for fire service rather than relying only on individual district tax bases.
“It’s not division specific,” Kite said. “If it were division specific, we would potentially have to increase, let’s say, like an extremely rural area like Comfort or Phillips, an exponential rate as compared to a municipal area, much less just to get those numbers equal across the board.”
Under the current funding model, Kite said the county provides each department with an annual base operational payment of $18,520. The county also provides a rotating $7,500 grant to two departments each year, meaning each department receives that grant about once every three years. The county also has a pay-per-call system, though Kite said that can be complicated because payment is generally limited to calls within a department’s primary district unless that department does not respond.
Under the proposed model, the general fund allocation would shift into the service district tax. The annual operational payment to each department would increase from $18,520 to $30,000. The rotating grant would be removed.
The plan also includes $43,900 for run pay. Kite said that funding would be distributed based on the percentage of calls each department handles. If a department responds to 17 percent of county calls, it would receive 17 percent of that money.
“That kind of helps those departments that maybe are running a few more calls than others to pay for those fuel and those wear items on trucks and stuff like that,” Kite said.
Additional revenue would be placed into a commission fund for larger capital needs. Kite said a fire commission would be established if the plan is approved. That commission would review requests from departments seeking support for major purchases such as trucks or equipment.
“They will have to justify why they need that purchase, whether or not the truck meets the replacement time and replacement age,” Kite said. “And then once the commission approves support for that funding model, then it goes before the Board of Commissioners, the county Board of Commissioners, for final approval of the disbursement of those funds.”
Smith said the county has not yet finalized who would serve on the fire commission. He said the county does not want to appoint members before the service district is approved.
“We want to get this thing across the finish line potentially in June for fiscal year 27,” Smith said. “Then we’re going to work really closely, the administration is going to work with our board of commissioners and the emergency services department, to really work on diving into who’s going to be a part of this commission and make these critical decisions for these financial needs of our fire departments.”
The county held a public hearing May 18 as part of the statutory process for creating the district. Smith said the county mailed notices to every property parcel in Jones County at least four weeks before the hearing.
Smith said public reaction has included both support and questions. Some residents asked what the fire protection service district would do. Others questioned whether the fund could become a “slush fund” or why landowners with mostly agricultural or pastureland should pay the additional tax.
Kite said one issue county officials want residents to understand is that fire departments do more than respond to structure fires.
“The fire service is not just fire response,” Kite said. “They’re an all hazard response program.”
Kite said volunteer firefighters respond to vehicle wrecks, technical rescues, water rescue, high-angle rescue, first responder calls and other emergencies.
“When somebody calls for help, when somebody calls 911, they expect somebody to show up and somebody to help,” Kite said. “They don’t care what name is on the side of the fire truck, what T-shirt you’re wearing, what you’re wearing. They just want help.”
Kite said fundraisers remain important for community engagement, but they are no longer enough to fund modern fire service.
“Fundraisers are great. Fundraisers do a lot,” Kite said. “But I want to make it very clear that every single department in the county does a fundraiser. It’s not that fundraisers are not happening. They are, but oftentimes the money made off of a fundraiser doesn’t even cover the turnout gear for one firefighter.”
Mills said the cost of fire equipment has increased significantly. A basic fire engine can cost about $500,000 to $750,000, while a fully outfitted custom engine can cost $1.2 million to $1.3 million, according to Kite.
Mills said breathing apparatus can cost about $10,000 to $13,000 each. In 2015, she said, similar equipment cost about $4,500. Outfitting one firefighter can cost almost $20,000 to $25,000 if a radio is included.
Mills said the county recently purchased radios for all fire departments and law enforcement through a county allocation. The purchase included 150 radios at a cost of $1.2 million.
“So the cost of equipment itself is expensive,” Mills said. “So we’re trying to look to the future for that capital improvement process for these departments.”
Smith said the proposal is part of a broader effort to plan for fire service needs before departments face major equipment failures or replacement costs without adequate funding.
“The goal here is for that reserve pot of money to get higher and higher so that we can help tackle some of these real big capital needs,” Smith said.
Smith said he also had a personal experience recently involving fire department response to a traffic accident. He said there was not a fire at the scene, but volunteers responded quickly.
“It’s a humbling experience,” Smith said. “We oftentimes are naive to the fact of we’re paying money into something, but maybe we don’t have that need.”
Smith said he had not needed fire department assistance in quite some time before that incident.
“These guys are volunteers and they really answered the call for me and my family the other night,” Smith said.
He said the county wants to continue supporting the fire chiefs, captains, department leaders and volunteers who respond across Jones County.
“This goes well beyond a fire at your house, at your pasture, traffic accidents,” Smith said. “These people do it all.”
The Jones County Board of Commissioners is expected to continue discussion of the proposal at its June 1 meeting. The proposed fire protection service district is included in the manager’s recommended fiscal year 2026-27 budget.
