The possibility of Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services taking over the Canton Fire Department, first broached in the 1990s, is up for discussion again.
The Canton City Council on Thursday is scheduled to consider a proposed agreement that calls for the county consolidating the fire department and its manpower, stations and equipment, and assuming responsibility for some big-ticket items the city faces paying for in the near future, City Manager Billy Peppers said.
“The city has always been able to provide fire services at a rate less than the county’s, but this year our rate is about equal with the county, and we have several capital projects and equipment purchases we’ll have to make in the next few years,” Peppers said. These include $1.1 million for new vehicles and $2 million for a new fire station (the city would still foot about $1.2 million of the cost).
Peppers estimated that consolidation could save taxpayers about $1 million a year over the next six years. Under the proposed agreement, the city would pay roughly $3.4 million to the county for fire services the first year, January through October 2017; and $3.7 million in 2017-18 for the first full fiscal year of service.
The Canton Fire Department has two fire stations, 35 full-time firefighters and four administrators. All would become county employees, and Canton Fire Chief Dean Floyd would become a Cherokee Fire division level chief.
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