UPDATE: Salisbury Mayor still waiting for response on Fire Service Agreement

The Mayor of Salisbury say it has been a month and a half, since The City of Salisbury asked the Wicomico County Council and County Executive Bob Culver to look into the double-taxation of Salisbury residents, pertaining to the lack of a working Fire Service Agreement between the City and the County.

Mayor Jim Ireton says he would like to rectify the over $1 million differential between the taxes that City residents pay, and the services they receive from the County. Data reportedly shows that the City responds to 62.95% of the fire calls in the County, but in FY2014 only received 23.87% of the County’s total funding for fire and EMS.

“County Executive Culver and the Wicomico County Council have had our request for 49 days now, but the citizens of Salisbury, Fruitland and Delmar have yet to receive a single word in response,” said Mayor Ireton. “We’re no closer now to a working Fire Service Agreement than we were a month-and-a-half ago. We’re no closer to equity for Salisbury taxpayers than we were a month-and-a-half ago. What we are offering is a way for the County Executive to deliver on his campaign promises by providing real tax relief to people who are bearing an unfair burden. We’re offering him a way to make it right.”

Ireton says the request letter was delivered on January 2nd.