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Google"We are just talking at this point," said Ray.
The problem is finding a legal way to fund the department, which primarily responds to calls outside the city limits of Shelbyville and which, despite its name, has both employees and volunteers.
The Times-Gazette has heard at least one report that the department's future is uncertain, but Ray said talks are still ongoing.
VFSI Chief Mark Thomas said he was not aware of any decisions having been made.
"They're just looking at all avenues," said Thomas.
The funding of rural fire services has been a bone of contention between city and rural residents for decades, and was part of a lawsuit against the county on behalf of city taxpayers in the early 1990s.
Some city residents claim it is unfair for county property taxes paid by city residents to be used to pay for services that operate primarily in rural areas. Rural residents sometimes counter that it is the city's choice to have a higher level of fire protection and that the city benefits from rejecting county fire coverage and operating its own fire department because its Insurance Services Office (ISO) fire protection rating leads to lower homeowners' insurance premiums.
As a result of the lawsuit, the county spun off the county-owned fire department into VFSI, an independent non-profit agency, but continued to fund it under a provision of state law which allowed the county to contribute to volunteer fire departments.
The county set up a special fund to contribute to services like VFSI out of tax revenues the county considered to be generated in rural areas, such as the "city share" of sales tax from businesses outside city limits. The term for such taxes is "situs-based."
At the time of the lawsuit, there were enough situs-based taxes to cover VFSI's operations. But changes in the tax base and in VFSI's budget over the years means that now the existing situs-based taxes don't even come close to funding VFSI.
Last summer, when discussing the issue at a meeting of Bedford County Financial Management Committee, commissioner Joe Tillett said that situs-based taxes were only expected to generate $641,806 in revenue in the 2008-09 fiscal year, compared to VFSI's projected budget of more than $1 million.
Thomas said the key is to find a way to keep VFSI at its present level of service and to protect the money the county has invested in it over the years.
One often-discussed solution to the problem would be to create a "fire tax district" composed of property outside city limits, and place a special fire tax on those properties to fund VFSI, either replacing the situs-based taxes altogether or supplementing them.
"We're just brainstorming at this point," said Ray. It's possible that any such solution might involve bringing VFSI back under the county's budget by turning it back into a county fire department.
Thomas said he had no strong preference either way on the issue of having VFSI as an independent agency or a county department. He said it would make no difference to those who benefit from VFSI's service, and the only real difference to employees would be that, as county employees, they would have access to the state's retirement program.
"I think it would be better if it would be under the county," said Ray.
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Using such scare tactics to get financing is akin to extortion.
It is long overdue for VFSI to face reality especially in today's economic situation. As GM and Chrysler have recently learned no longer can they continue operating in the archaic formula of asking or demanding more and more while providing equal or lesser value. Not a sound business philosophy, but then again they (vfsi) are only a not-for-profit entity. VFSI should be funded by direct subscription, then county residents would vote with their dollars to provide for their own local departments or VFSI.
Taxpaying residents of Shelbyville have valid contention for not contributing monies to an organization prevented from providing service in their realm due to duplicity. I don't believe Shelbyville Fire Department is ready to relinquish their sovereignty to VFSI's chain of command as Bell Buckle's present and previous chiefess have done. Selling out their community and department's autonomy to VFSI control at the expense of losing one of the best trained and staffed volunteer fire-medical departments not only in Tennessee but throughout most of the country under the leadership and talent of Bell Buckle's second, and second to none world class leader, former Chief Bill Bingham and his dedicated team.(except for a few coup enacting Judas's)
From a factual reality, county residents would fare much better in fire safety protection from the use of fire ALARMS AND RESIDENTIAL FIRE SPRINKLERS which have proven time and again to effectively notify occupants and suppress house fires while yet in the early incipient stage and that SAVES LIVES AND PROPERTY. OUR INSURANCE COMPANIES SHOULD ENCOURAGE OUR LEGISLATURE TO DEMAND THEIR USE BY LAW instead of waiting for the often too late shiny new trucks with diminished manpower on board arriving from half a county away to merely douse the smoldering remains, how many times have they had to return to a rekindle for a second dousing?
Honorable Ray,do not give VFSI any more of my tax dollars and do not place them back into the county fold. There are six reputable stations in the county in need of the tax support once offered to VFSI. Pouring money down the VFSI pit only benefits the fourteen paid "volunteers" (and a few fire apparatus manufacturers-dealers) and will not lead to enhancing the service they provide.
Or perhaps the time has come for the fire service to take a que from our excellent EMS department and be placed under their umbrella and proven management. Place a paid or paid-volunteer fire-safety person and rescue unit into each of the EMS satellite stations. The county would be better served and at less expense. Also the EMS service would be enhanced by the synergies of cross-trained personnel. I would feel more assured at having multiple sets of "jaws-of-life" rescue extrication tools closer at hand and quicker on scene placed at multiple locales throughout the county.
You better re-read it.
VFSi has a lesson to learn from their experience. The world is in severe financial crisis and if they wish to succeed and prosper they need to beat the bushes and round up financing through means other than sucking on dried up government funds by seeking sources such as fire service subscriptions.
i was just curious, how come "City" prisoners are housed in the "county" jail?? why dont the city maintain their own criminals??
I agree 100% with Lamey.
VFSI does not ask who you are if you need help,they respond no questions asked.
They will come to your aid even if it is inside the city.
A paided department pretty well ah sures that some body will come to your aid.
With a volunteer dept.somebody may or may not come to your aid.
I think that the county has the best department around.
KEEP up the good work VFSI.
I'm sure the cities tax base is drying up as quickly as the county, state and federal.