Commissioners approve reduced critical‑needs funding for contracted volunteer fire departments

Clinton Tetrick, Lubbock County emergency management coordinator, told the court the volunteer fire departments submitted updated applications and that the departments were aware of reduced funding for fiscal year 2026. Tetrick recommended dividing the available funds across the contracted departments as in prior practice.

Commissioners approved the critical needs funding applications for the contracted fire departments. During the discussion, a commissioner noted that the program’s funding had historically been about $500,000 and was cut to $250,000 this year; Tetrick confirmed departments were informed of the reduction and that most reporting requirements were current, with a small number still needing September run reports.

The court approved distributing the reduced funding, with staff noting that each department would receive roughly an equal split under the adopted approach; exact per‑department amounts were not read into the record at the Oct. 13 session.