Avery County Fire Commission presents balanced $3.99 million budget and proposes stipend program funding

Scott Heath, chairman of the Avery County Fire Commission, presented the commission’s budget at the May 7 budget workshop and told county commissioners the budget stands balanced at $3,990,000.

Heath said some capital expenditures in the fire budget are non‑recurring and the commission plans to use fund balance for those items. He reported a state grant award for an addition and renovation at the Elk Park Fire Department and said operational funds that had been earmarked for Elk Park will be redirected to a stipend program. Heath said the stipend program — which he called a pilot this year — cost $180,000 and has “decreased our no‑calls significantly,” a benefit he used to justify continuing the program.

Heath also noted that the state increased grant funding by $10,000 per grant, which local departments can use to purchase equipment for apparatus. He observed that fire trucks are becoming increasingly expensive and thanked the commissioners for their work with the fire commission and the budget.

Commissioners discussed the Fire Commission budget as part of the broader budget workshop. No vote to alter the fire commission’s requested budget was recorded in the workshop minutes; staff indicated some capital items would be paid from fund balance.