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Daviess County commissioners approve creating two fire districts to stabilize volunteer department funding
Summary
Commissioners voted to advance resolutions creating East Central and Northwest fire districts, shifting long‑term funding to property tax levies to address chronic shortfalls in volunteer departments; initial boards will be appointed with staggered terms and limits on who may serve.
Daviess County commissioners voted to move forward with resolutions creating two new fire districts intended to provide stable, ongoing funding for volunteer fire departments.
A county staff member leading the effort said the process began last November with meetings involving fire chiefs and a public meeting in February and that consultants and an attorney (Baker Tilly) were engaged to guide statutory and budget procedures. "The overall problem we were trying to solve is just ongoing funding for the volunteer fire departments," the staff member said.
The plan as presented would form an East Central district (Montgomery, Kendallburg, Barr) governed by a three‑person board and a Northwest district (Plainville, Elnora, Bogard, Elmore, Steele) governed by a five‑person board. Boards would have staggered initial terms (one 4‑year, one 3‑year, one 1‑year initially), appointed by the Board of Commissioners; appointees may not be elected officials or active firefighters, the presenter said.
Officials described how tax timing would work: a levy would be set to begin Jan. 1, 2027, with taxpayers billed in 2027 and the first district disbursements occurring in 2028; Baker Tilly will help jurisdictions bridge that gap. The presenter said modest per‑meeting pay (about $30) was expected and that bylaws would be based on a boilerplate provided by the consultant.
Residents and local firefighters who spoke during public comment urged care with naming and dispatch practices and stressed community identity. One representative asked that a geographic label be changed to 'Barr Township' to ease dispatch confusion. After discussion and planned edits to the resolutions (including name changes and minor typos), the presenter moved to forward the resolutions for final drafting. "...considering a motion to approve both fire district resolutions with these intended changes and then pending further edits of the document," he said.
A motion was recorded as "Motion by Commissioner Gabbard," received a second and passed on an affirmative voice vote. The commissioners did not record numerical vote tallies during the meeting; the resolution was advanced for a final clean draft to be returned at a future meeting.
