would taxes/homeowners insurance go up?

[Reilley]

If a Fire/ambulance Dept. decided to stop giving service to a village/town,I mean if the volunteers gave the village/town one month notice they they will not service the village anymore, how much more would the tax
base/homeowners insurance go up. The nearest department that is like our dept. is 5 and 7 miles away. I know that if a private ambulance came in the cost would be basic call of 800.00 and ALS is much more and then you have to pay for the miles to the hospital and the nearest is 7-8 miles and the trauma center is 30+ miles. Does anyone have any idea what it would cost the people?

[firefighter26]

Without getting into the politics behind it, I can say that I did the research in my area about a year ago.

And, YES, homeowner's insurance in my area would have gone through the roof if my department closed. I am not sure about yours, but in my area, insurance company's were talking about a 3 to 4 times the rate increase. Not just in their fire protection insurance, but all of their insurance. Property, Homeowners, Renters, etc, etc.

The best way to find out, is to phone and ask. Good Luck.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

I hope your pockets are deep, because if this scenario happens the rates that you pay for insurance are going to go up faster than the space shuttle.

The question I have is why is the village FD/EMS service giving up? Lack of support (both personnel and funding)? It seemes to me that it would cost less to support the local FD than to pay higher insurance rates!

[ 09-11-2001: Message edited by: Captain Gonzo ]

[D.SCHWER]

If the town was forced to put on paid firefighters you could estimate the cost at $40,000 per FF this is with benefits.
Minimum stafing is 4 per shift 4 12 hr/shifts for 24/7 so it comes to 16 FF or $640,000.

If this was the case insurance would probably go down but not enough to cover the cost of taxes going up.

So if you are looking at more funding throw these numbers out. Present it as a cost savings having volunteers.

[Chief79]

The insurane would definetly increase. I don't know how much but it would increaes. I have no idea why your department would want to close down, but evidently you are trying to learn what all the ramifications from the closure would be. I notied in your post you used this phrase "they will not service the village anymore". Had an instructor in an Officer Developement class once ask if we, the students in his class, "serviced our community" or "served our community". He told a story of how a young boy woke one morning and his father was leading their bull out of the pasture. The little boy asked his Dad where he was taking the bull and the father replied, "I'm taking him to service the neighbors cow". From that day forward I have always claimed our department is "serving" our community not "servicing" our community. I know this had nothing to do with your question, just that phrase always makes me remember that story. Good luck in what ever your department decides to do!