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Fire chiefs seek county role in funding as commissioners launch study of new models
Summary
Brunswick County fire chiefs and volunteer departments urged immediate support; county manager presented a timetable for studying funding models, districts and possible tax options with final recommendation aimed for the January retreat.
Fire chiefs and volunteers pressed the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners on July 21 for clearer, near‑term funding to address understaffing and increasing call volumes, and county staff presented a schedule to study alternate funding models.
Charles Drew, president of the Brunswick County Fire Chiefs Association and Southport Fire Department chief, asked to be included in county deliberations on funding. “A collaborative effort of nonprofit departments, municipal departments with the mayors, the county commissioners, and the citizens of this county will be needed to bring about a successful change to the funding mechanism for Brunswick County,” Drew said at public comment.
Several volunteer chiefs and department representatives were present during a later administrative presentation. County Manager Steve Stone outlined a timeline and objectives for a countywide review of fire‑service funding. Stone said staff has been doing analysis since 2023 and expects to complete initial stakeholder discussions by October, present draft alternative plans and tax‑rate options by before Thanksgiving, and offer a final recommendation for commissioners’ consideration at the board’s January goals retreat.
Drew and other speakers described shifting call types that now burden fire departments — including lifting assistance and medical‑assistance calls — and warned that declining volunteerism, longer response times and new development stress stations. Jennifer Gates (spoke as a resident and a member of the Winneba fire community) said the county previously had a $6.8 million subsidy proposal that would have supported 12 departments; she described frustration that commissioners tabled or rejected that measure last month and urged more immediate help for volunteers.
County staff and commissioners said the study aims to produce a menu of options, not an immediate move to a county‑run fire service. Stone said the county will solicit input from the Fire Chiefs Association and municipal leaders and explore alternatives including a dedicated fire tax, district approaches and staffing strategies. “It is not the intent of anyone in our office for any of those options to be a county fire service,” Stone told the board.
Commissioners emphasized the need to find staff and to craft solutions that will be implementable and equitable. Commissioner comments stressed the operational challenge of mutual aid when many nearby stations must respond simultaneously and the county’s difficulty recruiting and retaining personnel.
Why it matters: Fire protection and emergency response are core public‑safety services. Commissioners and staff acknowledged both immediate pressures on volunteer departments and the long lead time needed to design durable funding and staffing models.
Next steps: Staff will complete data analysis, meet with stakeholders and return with alternative funding models and tax‑rate scenarios in the coming months for board consideration; the board targeted a final recommendation at the January goals retreat.
