Iredell County schedules Jan. 16 workshop to begin review of 700‑page fire services study

Iredell County officials posted a comprehensive fire services study online and announced a Jan. 16 workshop to begin reviewing recommendations that could affect the county’s fire funding formula and apparatus replacement plan.

County Manager Milton told the Board of Commissioners the full study and accompanying PowerPoint are available on the county website under the Fire Marshal department; "the study is over 700 pages," he said, and printing full color copies would have been prohibitively expensive, so the county provided the document as a downloadable link.

The Jan. 16 workshop is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cooperative Extension site. Milton said the board will start with two focused topics: the fire funding formula and the apparatus replacement program. Staff provided an Excel tool that will allow commissioners to model funding shifts and see how proposed formula changes would operate under different inputs. Milton said the county hopes to identify portions of the study that could be incorporated into the next fiscal year budget.

Board members emphasized a measured approach. A commissioner noted the county is still digesting the report and stressed the need to take the work "in small, manageable chunks at a time," while urging public stakeholders to review the material online. One commissioner raised concerns about growth and annexations increasing county service demands, saying much of the growth "is coming from the towns and the city, and it's coming out into the county," and urging intergovernmental cooperation.

Milton also described logistical challenges: staff only recently secured copies to distribute to the board and estimated that printing the report would cost hundreds of dollars per copy, reinforcing the decision to post the report and PowerPoint online. The county encouraged residents and stakeholders to review the materials before the workshop.

The workshop will include consultants to discuss an ordinance update and a performance review process at a later session; no formal policy changes were adopted at the Jan. 6 meeting. The board plans additional workshops to parse recommendations and determine any budget or policy steps.

Next steps: the Jan. 16 workshop will be the first detailed review; commissioners said further deliberations and potential budget planning will follow in subsequent meetings.