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Buckhall Volunteer Fire Department treasurer warns board against county policy change that would seize station subfund balance
Summary
A Buckhall volunteer fire department leader told the Board of Supervisors that a proposed Department of Fire & Rescue policy change would remove station subfund balances and impair the volunteer company's ability to pay for planned capital repairs and equipment.
During the evening public comment period, Amy Hermanson, immediate past treasurer of Buckhall Volunteer Fire Department (Station 516), told the Board of Supervisors the station has learned the county's Department of Fire & Rescue (DFR) is advancing a policy that would absorb local station subfund balances.
Hermanson said that historically the county rolled over station savings into each station's subfund and that Buckhall has planned multi-year projects using that account. She gave examples of items the company expects to fund from its subfund savings: a concrete apparatus pad (estimated $400,000), replacement of eight garage doors (estimated $250,000) and a new ambulance (estimated $700,000, with a two- to three-year lead time).
"This is a major policy change, and it will have serious consequences for Buckhall," Hermanson said. She asked the board not to adopt any county policy that would immediately take the subfund balance from the volunteer company and said losing the balance would "compromise our readiness going forward."
Why it matters: volunteer fire companies operate apparatus and station-level programs using a combination of county funding and station subfunds created from local levies and year-end rollovers. A policy that removes accumulated subfund balances could force companies to delay planned capital maintenance and equipment purchases, the speaker said.
What the speaker asked the board to do: Hermanson asked the Board of Supervisors to withhold adoption of any policy change that would immediately seize station subfund balances and to allow volunteer companies time to comply with purchasing rules and to present requests to the board when necessary.
Attributions in this article come only from Hermansons public comments to the board; no county decision adopting a subfund policy was recorded in the transcript portion covered by this article.
