Fluvanna supervisors approve volunteer Fire and EMS incentive plan, certify FY25 hours by chief logs

Fluvanna County supervisors voted unanimously to approve a new incentive plan for volunteer Fire and EMS personnel and to certify hours for fiscal year 2025 using station- or company-chief certified logs, with the board setting an effective date of Jan. 1, 2025.

The plan uses a tiered payment structure tied to duty-crew hours and call hours, intended to increase volunteer availability for emergency responses and provide a modest financial benefit for volunteers. The county will pay incentives once a year after finance receives verified data from volunteer companies and stations.

County staff described the tiers and administrative rules during the meeting. The highest tier awards $595 for volunteers who record 288 duty-crew hours in a fiscal year; an intermediate tier pays $300 for 144 duty-crew hours; and leadership/support incentives are capped at $175 per person with a limit of three recipients per station. The guidelines state that duty crew credit is awarded only for hours physically spent in the station, crews must sign up at least 12 hours before a shift, and a duty-crew must be a minimum of four hours to qualify. Call hours count when volunteers are not on a signed duty crew; hours spent responding while on a duty crew are subtracted from duty-crew totals to avoid “double dipping.”

Staff noted tracking will use the county emergency services software once configured; however, because the county is changing scheduling software and has interim staffing in the department, staff recommended starting the program July 1, 2025, or no earlier than April 1 if the board prefers an earlier start. Several supervisors and chiefs proposed a hybrid approach: allow manual, chief-certified logs for the 2025 fiscal year while the county completes software setup, then move to automated tracking in the county system.

The board motion the approved language: “approve the incentive plan for Fluvanna County Fire and EMS volunteers, and for fiscal year 25 to certify the hours and time spent by the volunteers through certified logs to be provided by each station or company chief with an effective date of 01/2025.” The motion was seconded and passed on a 5-0 vote.

Howard Larson, representing Lake Rescue, later thanked the board for the action and said the incentive will help upcoming membership drives.

The county manager and staff said the board had budgeted $37,500 for the program in the current fiscal year; staff warned that if every active volunteer earned the maximum tier, available funds would be insufficient and the board would need to consider additional appropriations or draw from prior-year unexpended funds.

The board also discussed how to handle “life members” (volunteers who have service-based life status). Supervisors clarified the incentive applies only to volunteers who meet the participation targets in a given year; life-member status alone does not automatically qualify a person for payment unless they meet the hours/participation thresholds.

The supervisors directed that, for FY25 only, certified logs from company chiefs would be accepted in place of automated software reports; the board instructed staff to return with implementation details for a software-based approach going forward.

The vote was recorded as unanimous (5-0).