Warren County advances first reading of insurance-fee ordinance to fund volunteer fire services

Warren County Fiscal Court on Thursday, Feb. 20 approved the first reading of Ordinance 25-03, which would impose a license fee on insurance companies doing business in the county to generate recurring funding for volunteer fire services.

The ordinance advanced after a 40-minute presentation by Bill Rector, Warren County fire coordinator, who laid out a four‑pronged plan — recruitment and retention, staffing, apparatus acquisition and station improvements — and three implementation phases aimed at shoring up a volunteer system the county says has not kept pace with rapid population growth.

Rector said the county’s volunteer departments face aging equipment and station needs and declining volunteer availability during daytime hours. He proposed a phased staffing plan that would place 24 part‑time personnel across six stations in Phase 1, with a projected implementation date of July 1, 2025. Rector said the daily cost for those 24 personnel would be about $4,680 and that longer‑term staffing and leadership positions drive higher costs in later phases: a part‑time personnel projection of $873,600 in one stage and a Phase 3 projection of $3,716,700 (projected for Jan. 1, 2027). In a maximum‑coverage scenario the presentation estimated an annual staffing cost of up to $4,044,300.

“The time to act is now,” Rector told the court. He urged the county to begin a multi‑year apparatus replacement plan, noting that some frontline vehicles in Warren County date to the 1990s and that new ladder trucks can exceed $2 million. He also highlighted the role of…