‘HARD DECISION’
Fort Oglethorpe considering turning fire protection service over to the county
On Aug. 8, the Catoosa County Board of Commissioners adopted a budget that ended the $175,000 a year it had been paying Fort Oglethorpe to provide fire protection to unincorporated areas of the county since 2011.
“The situation,” says Fort Oglethorpe City Manager Jennifer Payne-simpkins, “is not what many people think it is. From the beginning of the agreement between the city and the county, the arrangement was never meant to be permanent.”
The original contract stated that Catoosa County would pay Fort Oglethorpe $175,000 a year for the fire protection until the county was able to build up its fire department to cover the unincorporated area itself.
The county felt it had reached that point in 2018 and placed an item on its August 21 commission agenda to end the funding that fiscal year. Simpkins says Fort Oglethorpe requested discussions with the county. The result was that the county agreed to wait another year so Fort Oglethorpe could study the situation and reconfigure their fire department to fit the new circumstances.
“Being a city manager,” says Simpkins, “the first thing I thought was that we should make cutbacks since we would no longer have as large an area to provide protection for.”
Simpkins says she soon learned it was not that simple. Fire trucks are required by law to have a certain number of firefighters manning them and there were other areas in which cutting back would have compromised the fire department’s ability to function effectively.
Cutbacks were not feasible, but the city still needed to make a number of changes to the fire department to deal with new realities — not only the loss of a chunk of funding but a problem with maintaining enough staff to be fully functional on all shifts.
“It’s hard to keep a station adequately staffed,” Simpkins says, “when you’re depending on part-time and volunteer firefighters. Those people still have to work full-time jobs to make a living.”
After discussions with Chief Bruce Ballew and the city council, Simpkins says a plan was formulated to close Station No. 8, which was used to cover the unincorporated area of the county that the city would no longer be responsible for and to hire nine more full-time firefighters for Station No. 1 on Forrest Road, making it the city’s only fire station providing protection. Fort Oglethorpe’s third fire station, No. 10, is used primarily for training.
That’s one plan, says Simpkins, and it has been seriously considered. But Fort Oglethorpe has another option and Simpkins says it’s the one the city is leaning toward.
The City of Ringgold contracts with Catoosa County to provide fire protection for its residents. Fort Oglethorpe could do the same.
Ringgold pays for its fire service with an “insurance premium tax” that is collected by the state and redistributed to cities based on their population. The state taxes life insurance premiums at 1% and property casualty insurance premiums at 2.5%.
Simpkins says Catoosa County is agreeable to taking over fire protection for Fort Oglethorpe in exchange for the city’s insurance premium tax revenue of $665,000. “That’s considerably less than the $1.6 million our fire department has requested
“cover Contracting with Catoosa County to fire protection for us would save a lot of money and would free up funds for other projects that are important to us.
Jennifer Payne-simpkins, Fort Oglethorpe city manager
for its next annual budget.”
But Simpkins and city council members were concerned about how such a move would affect the people who now work for the city fire department.
“We’ve been discussing this with the county,” says Simpkins, “and they’ve committed to all seven of our current full-time firefighters being offered comparable positions with the county. Fire Chief Bruce Ballew, who is parttime with Fort Oglethorpe, will also be offered a comparable position. The county has offered to create a fire marshal position for our fire marshal, Glenn Davis. The county doesn’t have a position like that and they need one. A fire marshal works in the area of prevention and maintenance by reviewing new construction plans and inspecting businesses to make sure they’re in compliance.”
Simpkins says that the person now filling the position of administrative captain with the Fort Oglethorpe Fire Department has unique skills that she feels would be an asset to the city in dealing with contracts and other city business. “I’m submitting a request to city council to hire that individual as an analyst for the city,” says Simpkins.
“Contracting with Catoosa County to cover fire protection for us,” says Simpkins, “would save a lot of money and would free up funds for other projects that are important to us.”
One thing Simpkins says everyone in city government would like to improve is police presence in neighborhoods. “We would like to hire more officers so we can spend time in neighborhoods and establish good relationships with residents.”
The proposal to contract with Catoosa County for fire protection will be on the city’s Nov. 11 agenda during a regular council meeting. It will also have to be considered at a Catoosa County commission meeting.
“This has been a hard decision,” says Simpkins. “We’re fortunate that we have a good relationship with the county. They’ve been easy to work with. We’re trying to do the best thing for everyone involved and we’re working to be as transparent as possible, which is why we’re addressing the issue at a regular council meeting and not a special called meeting. The public is welcome to attend and express their opinions.”