Mayor discusses fire department funding issues with Nelson Fiscal Court

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Stacy Faulkner, chairman of the board of the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department, speaks to Nelson Fiscal Court after Mayor John Royalty and Councilman Bill Buckman look on.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015, 2:30 p.m. — Mayor John Royalty attended Tuesday’s meeting of Nelson Fiscal Court and gave Judge Executive Dean Watts and the magistrates an update on negotiations between city government and the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department, which provides fire protection outside the Bardstown city limits.

Royalty said his goal has been to bring the two departments together in order to provide the best fire protection possible for the community. That effort includes adding paid, fulltime firefighters to provide 24/7 fire protection — and to do that, he needs funding from both fire departments.

The incorporated fire department — known as “the corporation” — is funded by the dues that appear on property tax bills, and as Judge Executive Dean Watts explained, county government isn’t directly involved in funding fire department operations.

Watts told Royalty that the city wasn’t considering the real value that county residents provide the city by paying the city’s occupational tax.

Magistrate Keith Metcalfe makes a point during a discussion with Mayor John Royalty during Tuesday’s Nelson Fiscal Court meeting.

“I would think 60 to 75 percent of the occupational tax is paid by people who live outside the city limits,” he said. Those who pay the occupational tax already contribute to police and fire protection in the city.

“I think the citizens of the county deserve some credit for helping fund city services,” he said.

Watts said he didn’t believe the community was big enough to financially support a fulltime 24-hour fire department. Such a department would cost $2-4 million annually, he said.

Royalty told the court that the incorporated fire department’s leadership failed to come to the table prepared to negotiate or offer counter proposals. The negotiations between the city and the corporation “have drawn to a conclusion at this point.”

Magistrate Keith Metcalfe questioned Royalty’s final proposal that included raising the corporations’ fire dues — an action the corporation couldn’t take action without the approval of fiscal court.

Mayor John Royalty, left, talks with Nelson Fiscal Court about fire department funding while Bardstown Fire Chief Marlin Howard looks on. Royalty told the court he has asked Howard to choose which fire department he wished to serve as chief — the city-funded Bardstown Fire Department, or the dues-funded non-profit Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department. Howard told the court he planned to stay as chief of the city’s fire department and resign as chief of the incorporated fire department.

For nearly 15 years, county government has allowed the corporation to place its annual fire dues on the county’s property tax bills. While fiscal court doesn’t set the fire dues, it has the power to remove the dues from the county property tax bills if it disagreed with an increase in the dues.

Fiscal court approved putting the fire dues on the tax bills as a move to help the fire department improve its collection rate. Prior to this, property owners in the corporation’s service area were mailed dues reminders each year, and property owners voluntarily paid.

Royalty faulted the corporation for not taking action in the past year to deal with the contract, which was canceled last year by former Mayor Bill Sheckles. Royalty said since he was elected in November, he has met with representatives of the corporation to talk about the fire department issues.

“Now its coming down to the wire, and I don’t do business that way.”

Stacy Faulkner, chairman of the corporation’s board, said the board had wanted to begin negotiating the contract last year but was told to wait until after the November election. Royalty’s latest proposal required the board to accept his proposal in total or reject it; the board rejected it.

Faulkner disputed Royalty’s claim they board didn’t offer counter proposals. When the board rejected Royalty’s latest proposal, the board asked the mayor if he would agree to bringing in a professional mediator. In an earlier interview, Royalty said there was nothing left to mediate with the fire departments.

Royalty told Nelson Fiscal Court he has asked Bardstown Fire Chief Marlin Howard to decide which fire department he wishes to lead — the city’s fire department or the corporation — and to resign as chief of one of the department.

Faulkner noted that forcing Howard to resign as chief of one of the departments violates the city’s existing contract with the corporation. The contract requires the chief of the city-funded fire department to serve as chief of the corporation as a condition of the departments staying together.

“I guess now we’ll have to find someone to serve as chief,” he said.

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