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Pender County fire departments present operating and capital requests; several chiefs cite staffing and equipment needs
Summary
Multiple volunteer and combination fire departments told commissioners their FY25-26 budgets ask the county to maintain current support and, in several cases, to add modest increases for staffing, equipment and station improvements.
Fire chiefs and volunteer leaders from Atkinson, Wallace, Rocky Point, Pender Central (Virdot/Pender Central), Maple Hill, Surf City (Northeast Pender) and Penderly delivered their FY25-26 budget presentations to the Pender County Board of Commissioners, describing local needs for staffing retention, equipment replacement and station improvements.
Atkinson Fire Department Chief Rutherford said his district covers about 30 square miles in Pender County and two square miles in a neighboring county. The department asked the county to continue a $138,000 general-fund contribution for paid staffing and requested a $13,243 increase to help with equipment upgrades; the chief said the department has about 24 volunteers and six paid staff.
Wallace Fire Department Chief Tyler Johnson presented a volunteer-operated department that responds to roughly 350 calls a year within its Duplin–Pender district. He said the department is replacing air packs and radios and asked the board to keep the prior tax rate; the county—s portion of Wallace—s fire-budget request was listed in the packet as $19,833.
Rocky Point Fire Department asked the county again for a general-fund contribution; its proposed budget shows a projected fire-tax revenue of about $787,000 and a request for $250,000 from the county (county staff presented a balanced proposal at $150,000 for the commission packet). The department said it planned to use part of its projected fund balance to buy two quicker-response vehicles (QRVs) and identified payroll and volunteer stipends as large expense items. Chief Short reported roughly 661 calls in the prior year.
Pender Central (Virgoth) and Maple Hill chiefs described staffing and equipment plans. Pender Central said it responded to 271 incidents in its district last year (about 41% of its department—s responses) and is seeking additional personnel to meet NFPA staffing expectations; Maple Hill highlighted achieving an ISO Class 4 rating and described a plan to preserve its paid staffing contract while continuing grant-supported equipment purchases.
Surf City Fire Department, which manages the Northeast Pender Fire District under a county partnership, presented a multi-year staffing and capital plan. Chief Wilson said the department—s FY25-26 priorities include adding three captain positions (about $200,000), one firefighter ($48,000), Station 205 expansion ($1.5 million), SCBA replacement ($600,000) and other vehicle and facility investments. Wilson emphasized that the Northeast Pender Fire District generates only about $310,000 in tax revenue (roughly 8% of the department—s roughly $4 million budget) while the department responds to a large share of calls outside town limits; he asked the county to supplement the district with a $300,000 general-fund contribution in addition to the district tax revenue.
Across presentations, chiefs and commissioners raised common themes: aging apparatus and radios, SCBA and air-pack replacement cycles, volunteer recruitment and retention, the cost and timing of station renovations, and the tension between capital needs and constrained county funding. Several chiefs requested multi-year approaches to raise stipends and gradually bring coaching and other supplements up to competitive regional levels.
Ending: Commissioners heard chiefs— requests and asked staff to confirm spreadsheet details and revenue assumptions; officials flagged the need to reconcile grant awards and county contributions before making final budget choices.
