St. Mary's County official urges support for volunteer rescue squads as units seek fire-rescue tax increase

An unidentified county official praised local first responders at the start of the meeting and described a recent proclamation recognizing a DES paramedic who met the patient involved.

The official said the proclamation underscored the value of volunteer first responders and noted that two volunteer rescue squads recently requested a tax increase for the county fire-rescue tax. “That just speaks volumes of how important all of our first responders are and, our need to keep up with, supporting them in any way possible,” the official said.

The official warned the alternative to volunteer services would be broader paid services, which would carry significantly higher costs: “If we had to go to paid services for everything for this county, this little bit of sum that they are asking for these two departments is nothing,” the official said. He said apparatus and vehicle replacement costs have risen markedly since 2020.

The official cited recent auxiliary fundraising as partial offsets to department needs, saying Ridge Rescue Squad raised about $40,000 and that the Seventh District Volunteer Rescue Squad Auxiliary made a sizeable contribution though he did not have the exact figure on hand. He urged residents to support local fundraisers to help departments outside of tax revenue.

The official framed the tax requests as part of broader budget pressures and said the county should weigh the costs of volunteer support against the potential expense of moving to fully paid services.

The remarks were part of general updates and did not include a formal vote or direction recorded in the transcript.