Rehoboth fire officials seek service fee

As part of the $200,000 donation earmarked for the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company in the city’s current budget, the fire company was supposed to create a plan for a steady stream of revenue from city property owners.

During an update on that plan Sept. 20, fire company officials said they need the city’s help moving forward, requesting a task force be formed.

Similar to years past, Rehoboth Beach commissioners gave monetary donations to four of the city’s nonprofit organizations – the fire company, library, museum and Main Street. Unlike years past, as part of this year’s donation, commissioners set conditions that had the organizations receive half the requested amount in July, with the remaining portion held until those conditions are met.

A condition for the fire company was that within 60 days after the first $100,000 was given, a plan would be in place to receive the next $50,000, with that plan implemented before receiving the last $50,000.

Representatives from those four organizations were on hand at the recent commissioner meeting for an update. The fire company was the last to go.

“We can’t meet that time frame,” said RBVFC Vice President Warren Jones. “Our call volume has exploded.”

Through the end of August, Jones said the fire company has responded to 573 fire calls and 3,216 EMS calls. The company is on pace for 800 fires and 5,000 EMS, he said.

“The closest we’ve come to that was 4,000 two years ago,” said Jones.

RBFVC President Mike Simpler said at this point, the city needs to sit down with the fire company and help figure out how to move forward.

“It shouldn’t be put on us, as the fire company, to get out in public and tell them they’re getting taxed because the fire company wants it. It needs to be a joint effort between both,” said Simpler. “We need to shake hands and make it work.”

Simpler said they would like to model the fee after the fee the fire company set up with Henlopen Acres a couple of years ago. In 2023, Henlopen Acres officials created a new $50 fee that is assessed to each property. The money collected is earmarked as a contribution to the fire company.

“The money is not coming in like it used to,” said Simpler.

Simpler said the city can look at the fire company’s finances and see that there’s $4 million in the bank. But that money is already accounted for, said Simpler, who then touched on some of the finances. He said only 12% of the 26,000 ambulance subscriptions sent out to residents were returned, and only 17% of the normal fund drive requests were returned. The fire company has a plan to purchase a $2 million ladder truck, a $1 million engine and a $457,000 ambulance to replace the ones needed for downtown. He said Medicaid pays $190 for an ambulance run, but the fire company charges $1,300.

Jones said the fire company has considered the creation of a live-in program at the downtown location, but that hasn’t happened because the building doesn’t have a sprinkler system upstairs. The company considered remodeling the building to current code standards, but it was told it would cost up to $3 million to do so, he said.

A troubling statistic, said Jones, is that an ambulance from outside Rehoboth had to come in to assist 86 times because its own ambulances were being used. There’s a need to staff a third ambulance from May 1 to Oct. 1, but that would cost an additional $36,000 in salary, he said.

Following the presentation by Jones and Simpler, there were no questions or comments from the commissioners. Mayor Stan Mills acknowledged the request and said the city would be in touch.

Funding of volunteer fire companies isn’t a new issue. Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed, and the governor signed, a bill that gives the state’s county governments the ability to raise funds for fire companies by enacting property fees. Counties would establish how the money is distributed, but the bill requires any money collected to go into an account separate from the county’s general fund, and money collected would only go to fire companies that provide fire protection.