MORGANZA - Pointe Coupee Fire District 2 said the fire department will see cuts to services if a proposition on the Dec. 7 ballot fails to pass."This could make or break the fire department," Pointe Coupee Fire District 2 Chief Aaron Edwards said.Edwards said the proposed property tax would cover hiring more part-time paid firefighters. This would let District 2 have three people on duty at all times."We are still operating a paid combination fire department of a volunteer budget," Edwards said.The department's revenue is expected to drop $30,000 next year, which the chief said is a lot of money for the fire district. In the past, Edwards said Fire District 2 relied on reserve funds to operate, but that money is running out which is why the proposition is on the ballot."Right now, we receive roughly from all the revenue sources $297,000. This tax would bring in another $297,000 to essentially double our budget," Edwards said.Martin Frey is with the parish's Fire Board. Frey said he has been involved with District Two for more than 20 years."We've been working with basically with the same revenue for the past forty years," Frey said. "Thirty years ago, a truck might be $100,000. Today? Half a million dollars."Frey said the money will be coming out of people's pockets either way."You can pay a tax, a few dollars additional tax that you can see where your money is being spent. You get the protection. Or you can allow the protection to go away and expect your insurance premiums to go up and pay your money to your insurance company," Frey said.Edwards said the funding from the proposition would help purchase new equipment like Air Paks for firefighters and building repairs."Right now, half the station power is working, half is not. We don't have the funds to fully upgrade that, so we just make do," Edwards said.If the proposition does not pass, Edwards said EMS will be the first to see cuts to services."The money is for fire protection, so the first thing we would have to cut is unfortunately EMS. We don't want to cut that because 80 percent of our calls are for EMS. To have someone in cardiac arrest waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, for help to get there, is not something I want to do," Edwards said.Permalink| Comments