Towns to discuss fire department funding

By Lynn Hotaling

Sylva, Dillsboro and Webster elected officials will gather at 5:30 p.m. at Sylva's City Hall to discuss each town's contribution to the Sylva Fire Department budget.

As a starting point, leaders from the three municipalities will use a fire department budget analysis prepared by Sylva Manager Richard McHargue that includes comparisons of homeowner insurance rates based on Insurance Service Office ratings.

Though Dillsboro has been incorporated as long as Sylva and Webster, the former county seat, has been a town for some 30 years longer, neither of the smaller municipalities has a fire department. Both Webster and Dillsboro contract with Sylva for fire protection services. Jackson County also contributes to the SFD in return for fire protection for unincorporated areas within Sylva's fire district.

Sylva officials in June and July expressed dissatisfaction with the $3,000 annual payment the town receives from both Dillsboro and Webster for fire protection. At that time it was suggested that Sylva should receive closer to $10,000 from each.

The budget analysis indicates that during the past five years the department's budget averaged $133,809 per year with a five-year total of $669,047. Of the total the town of Sylva paid $454,447, Jackson County paid $184,600 and Dillsboro and Webster each paid $15,000. While the county's annual contribution increased by some 39 percent over the five-year period from 1997-2001, Dillsboro and Webster's portion remained fixed at 2.2 percent.

Another factor prompting Sylva officials to seek more funding from Dillsboro and Webster is the documented savings on insurance rates due to the Sylva Fire Department's more favorable ISO rating, said Sylva board member Maurice Moody.

Moody obtained quotes on insurance premiums for homes of both frame and masonry construction to show the savings realized by homeowers with the Class 6 ISO rating.

According to Moody's information, which is included in the fire department budget analysis, homeowners protected by SFD pay, on average, $130 less than homeowners in other areas of the county where the ISO rating is a Class 9.

For example, on a masonry home valued at $100,000, the annual insurance premium would be $323 based on a Class 6 rating. Insurance premiums for the same house based on a Class 9 ISO rating would be $433 annually.

On a frame house valued at $100,000, the insurance savings are even greater. Based on a Class 6 rating a homeowner would pay $339 annually while he would pay $497 based on a Class 9 rating.

Webster increased its contribution for fire protection to $3,500 for the 2002-03 fiscal year; Dillsboro's budget indicates no increase.

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