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Volunteer fire department volunteer and funding shortfalls highlighted in public comment; Cascade reports $33,801 deficit
Summary
A volunteer from Cascade Volunteer Fire Department told the board that studies over two decades show persistent public-safety gaps and that the department ran a $33,801.80 shortfall over ten months of the current fiscal year despite stipend revenue.
A long-serving volunteer firefighter told the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors that the county’s volunteer public-safety system continues to face operational and funding shortfalls despite prior studies and recent steps by the board.
Jerome Adams, a Cascade volunteer for more than 25 years, presented a summary of three county public-safety studies (2006, 2015 and the most recent fiscal-year 2024 study) and told supervisors that many previously-identified deficiencies remain. Adams commended recent actions by the board but said volunteer departments still struggle to recruit and retain qualified personnel and to pay for maintenance, certification and contracted services.
Adams provided financial figures from the Cascade Volunteer Fire Department’s billing funds for the period July through April: billed funds collected $22,642.79; payroll net was $42,642.38; federal taxes $8,146.22; contracted services $5,655.99. Adams said total costs for that period were $56,444.59, leaving a deficit of $33,801.80 that required subsidization from the general fund.
Adams asked the board for “utmost attention and actions” on public-safety funding and operations; the remarks were given during the public-comment portion of the meeting and did not result in immediate board action, though multiple supervisors later acknowledged the volunteer network and the need to address funding in committee and budget work.
Adams’ presentation underscores continuing operational and fiscal pressure on volunteer emergency services and flags a specific shortfall for Cascade Volunteer Fire Department.
