KINGWOOD — Preston County’s volunteer fire departments say the $2,250 annual donation the Preston Commission is eliminating is important to them.
The cuts to the county’s 12 volunteer departments total $22,700. The county’s 2020-21 budget is estimated at $8,429,531. That’s less than the current year’s budget.
“This will definitely hurt,” Reedsville Fire Chief Scott Spiker said. “Some departments look for that money. I can’t see them (the commission) hurting so much that they couldn’t fund us; $2,250 is a piece of equipment or a payment to workers’ comp.”
He said losing the funding is especially hard because fundraising activities are on hold due to coronavirus.
“The fundraisers have been pushed back,” Spiker said. “We haven’t canceled our May gun bash, but it will probably be pushed back.”
He said the departments still have bills to pay and equipment to buy.
“We recently bought all new helmets,” Spiker said. “They cost $6,000. We have other gear that is supposed to expire in June. We have to buy replacement gear before it expires.”
“That $2,250 would help buy diesel fuel for a year,” Newburg Fire Chief Bill Larew said, referring to fuel for the department’s vehicles. “The county gets a lot of bang for their bucks. It costs them nothing for us volunteering our time. It’s a slap in the face.”
Larew said the county’s VFDs provide a vital service to their communities.
“We’re out there. If there is fire, if there is an accident, if a tree is blocking the road, we’re out there giving our time for free,” he said.
Larew said the men and women who volunteer their time have families too.
“We love what we do helping people,” he said. “But we don’t just sit around the department waiting for a call. We have children and grandchildren, a job and families. But we are willing to drop everything and go out and help someone who is having a bad day.”
Tunnelton VFD Chief Franklin Schnopp said his department used the yearly $2,250 from the commission to buy a new set of gear for the department.
“It will affect buying a new set of gear,” he said. “Hopefully, when the back taxes are collected they can go forward with funding us.”
Schnopp said he called the commission about funding and was told the county will continue to fund IamResponding, a phone app that lets first responders know who is responding to an incident, where they are responding, the location of the incident and more.
At an earlier meeting, commission President Samantha Stone said tax revenue has been declining over the past years. “We have to work within our means,” she said.
The budget also cuts the $23,057 in funding to the Preston County Health Department and the $22,700 donation to the Preston County Economic Development Authority.
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