Attempting to mediate between the city and county governments, the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce has suggested that the Bulloch County Fire Department delay by one year its planned July 1 takeover of the five-mile district long served by the Statesboro Fire Department beyond the city limits.
Chamber President and CEO Jennifer Davis revealed the proposal in a letter dated March 27 to the membership of the chamber, which is an association of local businesses and their supporters and not a government organization. At the Chamber’s request, county and city staff members have agreed to have a discussion meeting in early April. They reportedly do not intend to have quorums of the Board of Commissioners or City Council present, to avoid having it become a public meeting under the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
Davis wrote that the county’s “resident workforce and local businesses” have expressed concerns regarding the pending change in fire service in the five-mile district.
“In response to these concerns, the Chamber has taken proactive steps to gather more information from both the city and county,” she stated. “After carefully reviewing the available details and consulting with various insurance companies, we have proposed a plan we feel benefits the residents, schools, and businesses in the five-mile district.”
Her brief summary of that plan, quoted in the next paragraph, may require a few paragraphs of explanation for readers who haven’t been following the situation closely.
“This plan suggests allowing the city to continue providing fire services to the 5-mile district from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026, while collecting the 2.7 mills that residents and businesses have been contributing for a flat 2 ISO rating,” Davis wrote. “This approach would also enable the county to enhance their infrastructure within the district, ensuring a consistent level of service when they assume control.”
Background
So-called ISO ratings are fire protection classifications, on a 1-10 scale, issued by the Insurance Services Office, a private company that evaluates fire departments and water supplies and provides information to insurance companies.
The Statesboro Fire Department holds an ISO fire protection rating of 2, throughout the city and the five-mile district, and this is the second-best “flat” rating possible. But the ISO rating of the Rural Fire District, in other words the rest of the county, which is served by the Bulloch County Fire Department, is currently a “split” 4/4Y, where the “Y” indicates a lower degree of service in locations not near a “creditable water source” such as a hydrant or pond. Also, in areas more than five miles from a county fire station, the rating is a “10,” for no recognized fire service.
The fire service millage rate in the five-mile Statesboro Fire District, from which the county has collected the resulting property tax revenue and annually supplied the funds to the city for the SFD’s service in the district, has been 2.7 mills. Meanwhile fire service millage the county government collects everywhere in the county beyond Statesboro and the five-mile district is 3 mills.
With the five-year agreement on fire service set to automatically renew June 30, 2025, unless six months notice was given, the Bulloch County commissioners voted in early December to notify the Statesboro city government that agreement would end. County officials indicated their desire to negotiate a new agreement.
When the Statesboro Fire Tax District Committee met Jan. 30, Bulloch County Fire Chief Ben Tapley set out a proposal for the BCFD to take over primary fire service to roughly half of the Statesboro five-mile district and receive half of the district’s fire tax revenue beginning July 1, 2025, for one year. But the Bulloch County Fire Department would have taken on the rest of the district and its revenue on July 1, 2026.
Rather than accept just half of the revenue this year, city officials so far are letting the agreement expire this July 1, and Statesboro City Council on March 18 voted to accept City Manager Charles Penny’s recommendation to notify the county that the separate automatic aid agreement between the SFD and the BCFD would also be terminated July 1. But at that same City Council meeting, Penny and District 5 City Councilmember Shari Barr both said the city would still be open to working with the county if something could be worked out.
Meanwhile, after a Feb. 21 county notice to news media that plans were moving ahead to the BCFD to take over service to the district July 1, the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners voted during their first March meeting to add 37 full-time career firefighter positions to the department, which so far had 30 firefighters and also calls on some volunteers. Then on March 18, the commissioners unanimously approved a new pay schedule with raises averaging a little over 5% for all ranks in the BCFD, as an aid to recruiting.
Called back to the table
Now the Chamber of Commerce is attempting to mediate.
“The Chamber is working with both the city and county to schedule a meeting to discuss the 5-mile district in early April,” Davis wrote in the letter. “We are grateful for their willingness to come back to the table to collaborate on a path forward.”
From there, she continued by noting the county’s progress toward expanding its fire department before also expressing some specific concerns.
“We note and applaud the county's recent decision to hire 37 fire personnel, indicating progress toward taking over the 5-mile district by July 1, 2025,” Davis stated. “However, this transition brings some concerns for our community. Specifically, the county currently is in transition with key leadership positions, including a county manager, assistant county manager, HR director, and county engineer.”
This entire proposed change and pending split has occurred – or at least come to public attention – since the Nov. 29 departure of former County Manager Tom Couch, who had served in that job for 20 years. Interim County Manager Cindy Steinmann, previously the assistant county manager, recently submitted her resignation, effective April 9.
Another concern Davis mentioned relates to the potential change in ISO ratings.
“Additionally, we foresee potential financial burdens for residents and businesses, such as increased insurance premiums,” she wrote. “These increased premiums represent a significant amount of revenue that would leave our community, going to insurance carriers out of state.”
Then Davis closed the letter to chamber members on a positive note.
“We wholeheartedly support the dedicated efforts of both the city and county fire departments and appreciate their commitment to safeguarding our community. …,” the final paragraph began. It ended with “We encourage you to connect with elected officials to express your thoughts and advocate for wise decisions on behalf of 5-mile residents.”
The meeting of county and city staff is apparently expected to occur a few days before Steinmann’s departure. One source mentioned April 7 as a possibility.
County’s statement
After the Herald didn’t directly reach Steinmann or commission Chairman David Bennett for comment Friday, Dal Cannady, communications director for the Board of Commissioners supplied a statement he said reflected “a consensus of staff and elected.”
“We are grateful for the Chamber and their concern for the safety and protection of the community,” Cannady wrote “All parties in this issue have the best interest of citizens as their top priority.
“County leadership is and always has been willing to sit down with the city for further negotiations,” the statement continued. “The city’s only counteroffer has been to continue the current agreement for another year as it currently exists, without additional accommodations, which is no longer feasible for the county.”
City manager comments
Penny, phoned Friday, said representatives of the city will meet with key county officials “based on the information from the chamber.”
Asked if the city would be willing to accept the chamber’s proposal to have the SFD serve the district for one more year and then let it go to the county for fire service, he said, “I think the council is on record as being willing to do that.”
“Again, we’re willing to meet with them and discuss whatever they like, but this is clearly the county’s decision,” he said.
However, he said the initial meeting needs to be a closed-door meeting of staff members and perhaps key elected officials such the mayor and county chair.
“Negotiations are not good, if it is a negotiation, in public,” Penny said. “You have to be able to talk and you have to be able to be honest, and I’m not saying people aren’t honest in public, but it’s sometimes very difficult because making sausage is not a pretty thing.”
The city did not ask the chamber to mediate, but Davis and the chamber had been researching the matter and reached out to the city, Penny said.
“Did we ask the chamber to set the meeting up? No, but we certainly said that if there’s a meeting we’ll be more than willing to sit down and talk,” he said.
Meanwhile, the county will “continue to move forward with our plans to assume fire coverage of the former ‘five-mile district,’” Cannady wrote, and concluded his statement, “The county has an obligation to Bulloch County citizens to ensure that adequate fire protection is in place and we’re taking steps to ensure that it is available on July 1.”