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Mills River fire chief details budget to keep tax rate, boost staffing and volunteer incentives
Summary
The Mills River Fire Department presented a roughly $3 million budget and asked council to preserve the town’s 10¢ tax rate while prioritizing station rebuilding, equipment replacement and recruitment/retention measures including moving paid firefighters to a 40‑hour week and adding one volunteer and one paid firefighter per shift.
The Mills River Fire Department told the town council it plans to hold the municipal tax rate at 10 cents while directing funds to replace a fire truck and rebuild a station lost to recent storms, maintain savings, and address staffing shortfalls.
Chief (voice) said the department expects revenue of just under $3 million and noted about $2.5 million has been set aside in assigned savings for replacement of the burned engine and station; the department expects insurance proceeds but warned replacements will likely exceed insurance receipts. The chief said the department will add $375,000 to the fund balance to bolster reserves.
On staffing, the chief said the department faces recruitment and retention pressure and outlined a combined strategy of volunteer incentives, new training opportunities and market‑rate pay for full‑time firefighters. Specifically, the department proposed moving paid firefighters to a 40‑hour workweek (a change that would require additional staff) and adding one volunteer and one paid firefighter per shift to ensure four personnel are on duty at nights and weekends.
The presentation explained volunteers remain central to the response model; many volunteers are full‑time firefighters elsewhere and contribute experience and mutual‑aid capacity. The department said last year it raised roughly $75,000 through fundraising, received a $130,000 state grant that recently ended, and expects the new budget to reflect about $55,000 less in grant revenue than the prior year.
Council members asked whether losing the truck and station had affected the insurance rating; the fire representative said the rating was maintained for now but cautioned it could decline at the next periodic evaluation if replacements are not in place. Council members thanked the department for seeking alternatives to immediate tax increases and praised local volunteer recruitment efforts.
The next steps discussed included presenting budget details to the county Fire and Rescue Advisory Committee for feedback before county commissioners set the passthrough tax rate that funds part of the department contract.
