Statesboro officials warn of insurance and service impacts as Bulloch County assumes fire district on June 30

Statesboro Fire Chief Tim Graham told the City Council on a March 2025 meeting that the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners voted in December to terminate the current fire district agreement and will assume responsibility for the Statesboro Fire District on June 30, 2025. "While the Statesboro Fire Department is disappointed that we will no longer be providing services within the fire district after 06/30/2025, the department respects the county's decision and we truly hope that they are successful in their endeavor," Graham said.

The chief and city officials framed their remarks as factual clarifications aimed at correcting public statements they called inaccurate. "Chairman David Bennett made a statement that Statesboro's class 2 ISO rating only applied to commercial buildings and that residents were really a class 3. This is completely false and inaccurate," Graham told the council, describing how the city's current flat ISO class 2 rating applies to all properties within five road miles of a city station.

Why it matters: Chief Graham said the change from a flat class 2 rating to a county plan that would create a split classification (a county "4/4Y" scenario cited in the presentation) risks significantly higher homeowner insurance costs for some properties. Citing conversations with local insurance agents, the chief estimated some homeowners who lose the flat class 2 designation could see premium increases "upwards of 30 or 40%." He also said the district's millage is 2.7 mills compared with 3 mills in the rural county, and that the county's plan presented on Jan. 30 would split revenues roughly 52% county / 48% city.

What officials said about service and operations: The city presented operational details intended to show continuing capacity while the transition proceeds. The department reported an average response time in the fire district of about eight minutes in 2024, and said in 2024 Statesboro responded to 64 structure fires, 25 of which were in the fire district. The department also noted a dedicated tanker carrying 3,000 gallons of water that normally responds into the district as part of a five-apparatus response (a total of 7,000 gallons of water carried).

On automatic aid and mutual aid: City leaders warned that automatic aidan arrangement that triggers simultaneous paging of both jurisdictionsmay need revision once the county assumes the district. "If we are no longer servicing the district, I don't know if it would be in the city's best interest to continue the automatic aid," the city's fire chief said, and the mayor said the question of continuing automatic aid will be discussed at an upcoming council retreat. Chief Graham and city staff said mutual-aid agreements (requests made case-by-case when an agency needs extra resources) remain appropriate and likely to be continued, but that automatic aid provides a different, ongoing level of cross-jurisdictional response that must be evaluated for equitable mutual benefit.

Officials emphasized the decision to assume the district was made by the county without prior notice to the city. The chief said the city received no earlier communication of the county's plan to terminate the five-year agreement and that a formal termination vote occurred at the county's Dec. 3 meeting. The city said the county presented a revenue-splitting plan at a Jan. 30 fire committee meeting and asked the city to accept it within two weeks, a timeline the city said was too short to evaluate.

Council reaction and next steps: Mayor and council members expressed concern about public misinformation and indicated a desire to preserve accurate public communications about service levels and tax impacts. The mayor said he had recommended the county focus on building its rural fire services and that the city would continue to offer factual updates. City staff said decisions about continuing automatic aid or revising interlocal agreements will be a topic at the retreat and in future discussions with county officials.

Ending: Chief Graham closed by urging accurate public discussion: "We wanna make sure that the public has the correct information," he said. City leaders did not announce any formal change to department policy at the meeting; they said arrangements and agreements will be reviewed and that the city will seek to clarify the operational and financial implications with Bulloch County in the weeks ahead.