Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fire Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Granville County expands flexibility for part‑time firefighter pay tied to performance standards
Summary
The board approved an expanded eligibility option for part‑time firefighter reimbursement that lifts daily/weekly hour caps for departments meeting response‑time and coverage benchmarks while keeping overall funding level unchanged.
Granville County commissioners on Jan. 20 approved a modification to the county’s part‑time firefighter reimbursement policy that allows expanded reimbursement eligibility for departments that meet specified performance standards.
Emergency Management Director Jason Rivas told the board the change does not increase the overall funding available but provides flexibility to use unused part‑time reimbursement funds from earlier months within the same fiscal year. Under the expanded option, a volunteer department that maintains a monthly average alarm‑to‑'wheels rolling' response time of less than 4 minutes 30 seconds and at least 80% coverage of Monday–Friday daytime hours may be relieved of the current 10‑hour‑per‑day and 50‑hour‑per‑week reimbursement caps. If a department fails the performance standards for any two months in a fiscal year it would revert to the baseline reimbursement rules for the remainder of that year; eligibility may be regained in the following fiscal year after two consecutive months meeting the standard.
Rivas said reimbursement under the expanded option would be paid from existing appropriated funds, including unused part‑time funds, and that Granville County reserves the right to audit departmental time sheets and records. He emphasized the intent remains weekday daytime coverage; the change is designed to give departments more flexibility to use existing funds rather than to add new money.
Commissioners asked for financial context and data. Rivas and other staff cited examples from internal analyses: he said the lowest department saw an approximate 299% increase in funding since fiscal year 2016–17 and another department experienced more than 500% increase; he also described response‑time improvements in one department from an average alarm‑to‑wheels time of 11 minutes 19 seconds to 2 minutes 21 seconds. A commissioner noted the fire‑tax fund balance was projected to be about $1.6 million at year‑end.
A motion to accept the emergency management director’s recommendation and the county manager’s proposed modifications passed by voice vote.
The board instructed staff to monitor performance and eligibility under the new option and noted the county will compute available unused funds monthly for reimbursement purposes.
