Rocky Branch Volunteer Fire Department Seeks Election

— Rocky Branch Volunteer Fire Department members may get to decide in July to place their annual dues on their property tax bills.

The department plans to ask the Benton County Quorum Court to set a July 8 special election on a measure that would place fire protection dues on the real property tax statements of residents and businesses in the district. The department charges residents $75 and businesses $100 annually for the service, Chief Jerry Oliver said.

AT A GLANCE

Fire Dues

The Benton County Collectors Office shows six volunteer fire departments that have had their fire dues placed on the property tax bills of residents of their districts and are receiving money through the county.

Department 2012 tax collected in 2013:

• Avoca $80,966

• Beaver Lake $174,000.18

• Hickory Creek $21,681

• Highway 94 East $38,100

• Northeast Benton County $117,329.69

• Pleasure Heights $6,240

Source: Benton County

"We've got a fairly small area out here," Oliver said. "We've got about 4,350 residences, and as far as businesses go, we've got the marina and three resorts. We don't have very many businesses."

The department has not had problems with residents paying, just with managing to keep up with paperwork, Oliver said. Placing the dues in the tax statements won't change the amount, but it will make the process easier for the volunteer staff to manage, he said.

"It's more simple than sending out 450 letters and getting back 450 different checks," he said. "It just gets to be a tornado of paperwork."

A handful of other volunteer fire departments on the east side of the county also have gotten voter approval to place their dues on tax statements, County Fire Marshal Marc Trollinger said. There are typically two reasons for having the dues placed on the tax statements -- increasing the collection rate and providing a guaranteed revenue stream, he said.

"The departments that have done it wanted to raise their collection rates up closer to 100 percent if possible," Trollinger said. "Historically, the more populous your area is the less you receive. Rocky Branch already collects 90 percent or better. It's basically a way to guarantee your income."

Departments that need money for trucks, facilities or equipment need to show banks an annual income in order to secure loans, Trollinger said.

"Every one of the departments that have done this, that's been a reason why," he said.

Volunteer fire departments on the west side of the county have different needs and a different client base that makes placing dues on tax statements less beneficial, Trollinger said.

"The west side is a lot more rural and agricultural," he said. "Some of the departments on the west side could actually lose money if they did this. A large poultry farm typically pays a base rate for all of the buildings on the farm, not just one fee for the entire property."

Mike McKenzie, justice of the peace for District 1 that includes the Rocky Branch area, is sponsoring the ordinances needed to get the district's legal boundaries set and the election scheduled. The Quorum Court is set to vote on the ordinances at its April 24 meeting. The ordinances will have emergency clauses, making them effective immediately so the vote can be held in July.

"The county's role in all this is just with getting the election approved so they can let the people vote on whether they want the fire dues laced on the tax statements," McKenzie said. "July is the last opportunity for an election to be held and it still be placed on the tax bills for next year."

The most recent votes in which fire departments sought to have their dues placed on the tax statements were held in conjunction with the May 18, 2010, primary election, County Clerk Tena O'Brien said. At that election, she said, Garfield voters passed the district's request by a vote of 68-37 and Avoca voters approved their district's measure by a vote of 56-24. Voters in the Gateway district defeated the proposal by a vote of 32-23.

NW News on 04/15/2014

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