BENTONVILLE -- Voters in the Beaver Lake Volunteer Fire Department's service area will decide July 12 if they are willing to pay more for emergency services.
The department's board obtained approval from the Benton County Quorum Court earlier this year for a special election on a plan to raise annual dues from $75 to $200.
Fire dues
Several volunteer fire departments have their annual dues placed on residents’ annual property tax statements and collected by the Benton County Collector. The revenue from the dues varies according to the amount charged and the population of the district. In 2015, the county reported Avoca received $81,299; Beaver Lake received $175,574; Hickory Creek received $22,680; Highway 94 East received $38,700; Northeast Benton County received $122,779; Pleasure Heights received $6,640; and Rocky Branch received $29,200.
Source: Benton County Collector
The dues are levied on each residence and each business with a structure in the department's service district that can be occupied. Dues are listed on annual property tax statements and collected by the Benton County Collector's Office.
Fire Chief John Whisenant said the department covers an area of about 16 square miles with about 7,500 residents. There are about 2,480 residences in the district, he said.
The department's last dues increase was in 2007 when voters approved an increase from $40 a year to the current level of $75 a year, Whisenant said. In that election, 373 voters favored the increase and 206 district residents voted against it, according to the Benton County Clerk's Office.
There are 3,537 registered voters in the district, according to figures from the Clerk's Office.
Early voting is from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through July 11 at the County Clerk's offices in Rogers and Bentonville. Election day voting is from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Prairie Creek Association Building, 14432 E. Arkansas 12, with electronic voting machines in use. District residents who want to use paper ballots will have to go the the Benton County Election Commission office at 1204 SW 14th St., Suite 6 in Bentonville.
The department is proposing to hire enough full-time firefighter/EMTs so the department can have three firefighters on duty at all times. The department also will have to modernize its facilities to house full-time personnel on a 24-hour basis, Whisenant said.
Beaver Lake would follow a trend in Benton County of previously all-volunteer fire departments adding full-time staff, Whisenant said.
"We would be the sixth volunteer agency in Northwest Arkansas in the last decade to put firefighters on full-time," he said. "The others are Lowell, Gravette, Centerton, NEBCO and Pea Ridge."
The population growth and changes in the area economy have reduced the ability of rural departments to rely strictly on volunteers, Whisenant said. Whisenant's department has 18 volunteers, but most of those have full-time jobs that limit their availability.
Marc Trollinger, Benton County fire marshal, said that is the case for much of the county. Trollinger also is fire chief for the Hickory Creek Volunteer Fire Department and has to deal with the shortage of volunteers directly.
"At Hickory Creek we've got 21 people on the roster, which is a good number," Trollinger said. "Unfortunately, the amount of time our volunteers can spend has dropped probably 50 percent. With 21 people, 10 years ago you never worried. Now, with 21 people, there are four or five that I can pretty well depend on. The rest volunteer when they can."
Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards said his city began to hire full-time firefighters in January 2015 and gradually has increased the number. The city has 10 full-time firefighters and hopes to hire more. Centerton Fire Chief Delton Bush said the department will continue to rely on volunteers, but the growth of the city makes it necessary to have full-time firefighters as well.
"You have a quicker response with your apparatus with full-time people," Bush said. "You don't have the delay of part-time people having to respond from their homes or jobs to the fire department and get the equipment."
The city's limited resources make the part-time/full-time model one his department will use for the foreseeable future, Bush said.
"There's no way we're going to have enough money in the coffers to have a full-time department," he said. "The Centerton Fire Department will continue to rely on volunteers for years to come."
NW News on 07/04/2016