FAYETTEVILLE, W.VA. (WOAY) — At the latest Fayette county commission meeting, citizens and fire departments were able to discuss the future of the fire levy for Fayette county.
“I really think the most important things, like I said, that we discussed today were the future of the fire levy, which all three commissioners said they believe it’s really important. We’ll be voting for it next week however, so anybody who has a public interest in speaking for or against it will have the opportunity at that point,” Commissioner Allison Taylor said.
The levy will officially be voted on next week at the February 12th meeting at the Fayette County Court House.
The fire levy is what funds all of the fire departments in the county, and without it, the departments do not have access to any funding.
Going into the meeting, the commission asked each fire department to create a budget to be presented, so that money could be allocated rather than reimbursed. The county commission also previously terminated the position of fire coordinator, whose job was to essentially collect and present fire budgets for the entire county.
Now that this power resides in the hands of the commission, some departments are concerned that the funds won’t be allocated based on firefighters’ needs, but rather political agendas, but Fayette county commission says that is not and will never be the case.
“We have not denied any reimbursements, so that’s been a big misunderstanding in the public and among the volunteer firefighters. They think we’re not funding them or we’re withholding funding and that’s just not true, that’s not happened at all,” Taylor said.
The commission is looking to implement this new change to increase transparency and give the public the chance to see exactly what their tax dollars are being spent on.
Those in charge of the fire services in the county have expressed interest in working with the commission to be fully transparent while also still providing a safe and reliable fire service going forward.
