The Elko County Board of Fire Commissioners voted July 2 to reauthorize Policy C1.28.2, which provides stipend compensation for salaried exempt fire officers assigned to reimbursable emergency incidents, and to require that stipend personnel and equipment rates be reviewed and approved annually during the board’s rate-setting process.

The policy had been approved in 2021 but board members spent more than an hour debating how it should be applied, who is eligible and whether written checks should be added to ensure county coverage during local incidents. “We only have two chief officers available right now, myself and Chief Pitts,” Fire Chief Matt Peterson said. “We are not available for anything outside of Elko County, and that is because Elko County comes first.”

Peterson told the board the stipend policy is intended to ensure local leadership is available on reimbursable wildland incidents (for example, those led by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management) and that it aligns with what other departments in the state do. He said the stipend mechanism was used more than 20 times in 2024 across chief officers and has been used once so far this year; the policy covers four salaried positions — the fire chief, the deputy chief and two division chiefs. Peterson also said the county has an established drawdown and staffing matrix in its standard operating procedures to ensure Elko County is covered before personnel are committed elsewhere.

Board members pressed for the policy language to be attached to future agenda packets and for annual reports on stipend use and rates set during the rate-setting process. Amanda Osborne, Elko County manager, said the policy text referenced in the briefing was not attached to the meeting packet and offered to provide the written policy for review.

After discussion the board approved the motion to reauthorize the policy and to include annual rate review. The motion passed with a 3–1 recorded outcome. The board did not change the policy language at the meeting; members directed staff to return with the written policy and any suggested clarifications.