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Nonprofit funding and volunteer firefighter pay draw close review in Bedford County budget study
Summary
Commissioners debated nonprofit funding criteria and whether to shift a partnership line to Chamber membership; volunteer firefighter pay requests and an insurance policy for volunteers were discussed but the volunteer pay request was not included in the draft.
The finance committee discussed how to treat nonprofit funding requests in the draft budget and debated whether event-style nonprofits should be eligible for regular funding.
The chair and commissioners said longstanding practice has been that nonprofits must submit information to Robert and appear before the committee to be considered, otherwise they receive their prior-year level of funding. The chair recommended moving a line identified in the draft (described in the transcript as the local partnership) into a Chamber of Commerce membership model at about $20,000 and reserving any difference in an economic-development fund for future projects.
On emergency services, a county representative described current supports for volunteer firefighters: volunteers are covered by workers' compensation but often have no county paycheck to replace lost income; the county also carries an additional insurance policy (procured through the Steve Frost agency) that provides partial income replacement and medical coverage when volunteers are injured, costing roughly $7,000 per year. The transcript records a request for $90,000 to provide volunteer firefighter pay and for additional firefighters and apparatus, but Robert and the chair confirmed those items were requested but not included in the current budget draft.
Commissioners discussed precedent and process: event-based requests (for example, a veterans cooking event) could be considered but would require a resolution and raise concerns about setting a precedent that could 'flood' tourism or events budgets.
Next steps: staff will reflect committee direction in a revised draft and include clarifying notes in the budget book for the commission. No formal funding changes were approved during the study session.
Sources: Remarks from the chair, Robert, Commissioner Yockey and a county representative on volunteer insurance during the Bedford County study session.
