Residents and volunteer firefighters urge Macon County to approve 1¢ fire-district tax to replace aging trucks

Residents and volunteer firefighters from the Colesaja/Colasaja fire district told Macon County commissioners on June 10 that the district needs new apparatus and asked the board to approve a modest tax increase to pay for replacement trucks.

At a public hearing about the fiscal year 2025–26 budget, multiple speakers said the fire district’s frontline trucks are about 25–30 years old, parts are increasingly hard to obtain and pump testing and reliability are concerns. “If I have a fire at my house, I want to be assured that the fire truck will work adequately and pump water when needed,” Don Willis said. Willis gave homeowners’ cost examples if the tax rose by a penny: on a $200,000 house, “that’s only $20 more a year in tax.”

Volunteer crews and department leaders described equipment and operational needs. David Dabney, a volunteer who lives more than five miles from the department, said insurers treat homes outside that range differently and that prior efforts to build a substation were limited by funding. “Our trucks are dated 1992, 1994, [and] 2006,” Dabney said, adding that parts sometimes are not available when a truck breaks.

John Courtney, chaplain at Cullis Edge Gorge Fire and Rescue, urged the board to approve what he called “a modest 1% tax increase” to fund new fire trucks and said aging apparatus can both delay response and raise maintenance costs. Colesaja/Colasaja department members testified that a new large apparatus has already been ordered and will arrive this fall, and that the department expects cancellation penalties of about $50,000 if the purchase is canceled now.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about the petition the department presented, pump-test results and why a substation was sited where it was. Commissioner discussion ranged from support for the department’s safety argument to concerns about spending precedence and financial oversight. Commissioner Bridal said he struggled with approving a tax increase to buy a truck “because you didn’t have enough money to buy a fire truck, which sets a precedent.” Several commissioners said they would support the department only after additional financial review; at least one commissioner said a forensic audit of the department’s books should be considered.

Speakers also described the community outreach they had done: a petition presented at the hearing included hundreds of signatures, though the petition organizer said about 70 signatures were removed because they were gathered at filling stations and some entries were illegible and required verification.

Where the matter stands: the commissioners did not adopt a change to the district tax rate at the June 10 meeting. The board’s budget deliberations later in the evening included a separate vote to adopt the county budget; discussion of the Colesaja/Colasaja tax request remained an outstanding item for the board to resolve in further deliberations.

Why it matters: The volunteer fire departments serving rural parts of Macon County depend on locally raised revenue and periodic tax increases to replace large, specialized apparatus. Commissioners must weigh public-safety arguments and insurance-rate effects against countywide budget priorities and the fiscal precedent set by approving targeted, post‑budget tax increases.

“Every time we put off spending, it gets more expensive,” resident Betsy Carson said during the hearing. “We pay our taxes, so you spend our money. Please, spend our money.”

Next steps: Commissioners directed additional review during the budget discussion and several members said they would support further consideration if the department provided clearer financial documentation and answers to outstanding questions about procurement, timing and the petition’s verification.