Finally bringing to a close discussions going back to the 1990s, the Canton City Council on Thursday approved an intergovernmental agreement to have Cherokee County take over city’s fire department.
The county Board of Commissioners is expected to take up the agreement when it meets Tuesday. If commissioners agree, the merger would take effect Jan. 1.
Canton City Manager Billy Peppers has said consolidation could save city taxpayers about $1 million a year over the next six years. The city would pay $3.4 million to the county for fire services in the first year of the agreement, January through October 2017; and $3.7 million in 2017-18 for the first full fiscal year of service.
The county, in turn, would assume responsibility for major capital projects and equipment purchases now looming. Canton’s 35 full-time firefighters and four administrators would become county employees.
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