Midland Fire and Rescue concerned county budget proposal could hurt department response
MIDLAND, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Leaders with Midland Fire and Rescue have asked county commissioners not to touch the rural fire tax in the upcoming budget after the county tax adviser suggested commissioners taking a neutral-revenue approach to fiscal year 2024-25 could be possible.
During a February Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners meeting, it was revealed that dozens of local families spoke directly about their fears of tax increases for the new year.
A revaluation of property values had some families report a $300,000 hike and therefore had begun to worry about higher taxes they could face.
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While county commissioners explore a variety of options, a neutral revenue approach isn’t necessarily off the table. This would see the county keep the property tax budget the same for the next year as it was the year before.
Midland firefighters have asked county commissioners to consider allowing the department to keep its rate of 10 cents per $100.
“I don’t know what commissioners are going to do but that pulls us down to 8-and-a-half cents,” Midland Deputy Chief Joshua Case.
The fire department laid out its concern to Midland town leaders Tuesday evening.
They stressed that going neutral revenue would cause their annual budget to decrease by more than $200,000.
“We would lose access to specialized people,” Midland Fire Chief Larry Coley told Queen City News. “If we lose those people, we’re not going to be able to offer that service anymore. We’ll have to cut back on some responses.”
In a Facebook post, the department also laid out its argument for staying at the current 10-cent tax rate.
“Revenue neutral for the rural tax rate in Midland would be .085 and that is would be down .015 from the current rate of .10.
“The difference in revenue for these numbers based on a $300,000 home would be $45 annually, $3.75 monthly and 12.5 cents daily.”
“As posted in our five-year plan, the loss of revenue example above will prevent us from hiring much-needed staffing, remaining at the current rate and not increasing it will allow us to hire several more positions to bring the full-time staffing to four firefighters at each station.
“A staffing level of four firefighters is imperative to deliver an effective safe firefighting force for Midland. Remaining at the current rate will also allow us to meet equipment needs and other vital expenses.”
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The department said they will have “adequate representation” at the county commissioners’ budget work session on April 18.
Cabarrus County commissioners say they have been in constant communication with Midland Fire Department leaders, but have not revealed on which side they fall on the discussions.
They have until the early part of the summer for the budget to be approved.
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