Vote on DMW fire district set for tomorrow

A vote Tuesday, if successful, could save local firefighters thousands of hours in fundraising that could be better used for training, according to a local fire chief.

Voters will decide if they want to create a tax district in the Draytonville-McKowns Mountain-Wilkinsville Volunteer Fire Department (DMW VFD) area. Residents in the Wilkinsville and Metcalf areas can vote at the fire department, while people in Draytonville can vote at Draytonville Elementary School.

The decision could have a dramatic effect on the fire department with the increases in equipment prices and insurance rates. For example, in 1986 when DMW VFD was first created, a set of protective firefighting gear cost $320 a person. That price has now jumped to $1,800 per firefighter.

If the resolution passes, it will also affect the wallets of property owners in the tax district, which is bordered by the Natural Gas Line at Broad River to Wilkinsville Highway and Peeler Creek Road. Wofford Road is the southernmost border.

Approximately 800 homes are within the fire district.

The reading of the referendum states that the DMW VFD can receive up to 15 mills in taxes from its property owners. According to DMW Fire Chief Rick Peterson that does not necessarily mean residents will pay the 15 mills.

“It has not yet been determined,” he said about the millage rate. “A tax board must be created and it determines the actual millage. ... The tax board is appointed by county council and would include community members in the fire district.

“Whatever the millage is set at, after a couple of years we can hopefully lower it back down,” Peterson said.

The tax assessor’s office estimates that at 15 mills a property owner would pay $30 on $50,000 worth of property, or $60 on $100,000 worth of property.

The DMW VFD relies heavily on donations and fundraisers, with a Halloween “Spookhouse”, portrait sales and a July 4th barbecue and hash sale its largest money makers.

Cherokee County Council also allocates $35,000 a year to the department. With $17,000 a year in payments for a 1994 fire truck and another $12,000 in insurance payments, that nearly depletes the county’s contributions.

“Our goal is not to spend less time in the fire department, our goal is to spend more time training,” the chief said. “We’ve spent thousands of hours fundraising. For the Spookhouse, it takes 50 people working 10 days in addition to building it. ... That time can be well spent training.”

The first step in gaining a tax district is to complete a petition, which DMW VFD did recently with 270 names allowing the referendum to appear on the ballot Tuesday.

There are 15 fire departments in Cherokee County, including three fire departments within the City of Gaffney. All but five fire departments already are supported by a tax district, while DMW and Antioch are in the process of attempting to create their own district. Goucher White Plains, Twin River and Asbury Rehobeth fire departments currently do not have a tax district.