City of Salisbury addresses proposed rate hike to help fund fire department

SALISBURY, Md  – The City of Salisbury responding to concerns over a proposed property tax hike within the fire district for the 2024 budget.

City Administrator Andy Kitzrow tells 47ABC, the measure is a replacement for a proposed fire fee floated earlier in the month and would be a one-year extension of the current Fire Service Agreement.

“Whenever you are not investing in your people or services, there’s an opportunity to have attrition of services provided,” Kitzrow said adding “Whether we have a loss of staffing, we are unable to continue to compete for the quality staff or we’re unable to provide the services in a timely manner, You know when it comes to public safety response, time is crucial.”

That’s what Kitzrow says is at stake if the city doesn’t increase funding for its fire department which they say is experiencing a rapid rise in operational costs.

“Our payroll in our fire department has increased by $3 million over the last three years, our call volume is increasing significantly, so we’ve had to increase our staffing demands,” he said.

City Council members 47ABC spoke with say the increase could be between 12 and 15 percent.

While Kitzrow would not comment on the rate hike percentage or the total shortfall in funding they were looking to target with the hike, they said it was a choice between raising rates or slashing services.

“If we have less staff or less capital piece of equipment on the streets, we’re not getting there as quickly, so that’s what the reality is, is that we may not be able to respond as fast as we want to,” he said adding “we’re dedicated to responding, we’re dedicated to continuing to provide the services, There’s just a real cost, I think everybody is facing that,” he said.

But even if the measure were the pass the funding troubles for the fire department would not go away. That’s due to an increase the town says needs to come from the county formula, as Salisbury fire engines respond to calls throughout the county, outside the city limits, and beyond their ability to impose a rate hike.

“The current reimbursement rate that is from the county is $964,000 approximately for this upcoming year, we are looking to increase that approximately double, if not more, to be able to cover some additional expenditures because now approximately 30% of all of our calls are in this county portion of our Salisbury Fire district,” Kitzrow said.

He tells us they are exploring a cost-per-call analysis as an option, as well as the possibility of a rate hike through the city, both of which they say are part of an active negotiation between the City and the County Council.

Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano tells 47ABC she would support a cost-per-call program, but tells us she wants to see the council at the negotiating table.

“We need to get this right and so that means getting in a room and telling us what they need as we move forward through this process,” she said.

That negotiation is over a new 5-year Fire Service Agreement.

The proposed rate hike for those within the city limit must be approved by the City Council no later than June 12th to move forward.