The Wood County Fire Board’s First Chairman Mike Voshel, who serves with the Williamstown Volunteer Fire Department, appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to discuss the county fire fee collections which are only at 75%. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Fire Board is looking to collect delinquent fire fees.

The board’s First Chairman Mike Voshel, who serves with the Williamstown Volunteer Fire Department, appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday.

“With fire fee collections, we are at around 75% for this past year,” he said of collections. “What we have seen over the last couple of years is a gradual decline in people paying their fire fee.”

Fire fees were due April 15. A second letter is being prepared to go out to those who haven’t paid. The board is also preparing a list of the top 20 non-payments, the majority of which are usually corporations and companies.

Voshel said they are in discussions with a couple to see about getting the fees paid.

Commissioner Jimmy Colombo asked if those who are behind could work out a payment plan which Voshel said they could.

The fire board is meeting with an attorney to see what can be done about people and businesses who are years behind in getting the fees paid. The fee was initiated seven years ago in 2016.

“The thing we are trying to get out to the public is how important it is to pay these fees,” Voshel said. “All of the fire departments use these fees on a daily basis.

“The expenses of everything have gone up. Inflation has gone up on everything. The price of fuel and training have gone up,” he said.

Many people may think not paying the fees is no big deal, Voshel said.

However, to properly outfit one firefighter with the proper gear is between $10,000 and $12,000 so they are able to safely enter a fire, he said, adding firetrucks can cost $500,000 to over $1 million to replace. There are also daily expenses for each department the fire fee goes to help cover.

“We are trying to find ways of getting it out to the public on how important it is that they pay and support this fire fee,” Voshel said.

So far, they have collected $883,027.49 for the year. The total amount billed was $1.186 million.

With what they collected, it allows the departments to currently cover their minimum expenses.

“It is important for people to pay their fire fees,” Commissioner Robert Tebay said. “It is important the volunteers understand how much we appreciate their effort.”

If someone does not pay the fee and there is an emergency at their house, the resident can be billed an additional amount for the call.

When the fire fee was put into place, they collected 96% the first year and 94% the second year. Collections have gone down each year to 75% so far this year, Voshel said.

Wood County Commission President Blair Couch said there has been trouble in the past with the bills reaching the right addresses if a property has been sold and has new owners. He expects to get back up over 80% before the year is over.

Before the fire fee, the commission gave each department $25,000 which amounted to $250,000 for 10 departments, Couch said.

Gov. Jim Justice’s office sent a letter to all the county commissions in the state about a bill recently passed by the Legislature and signed into law which would provide $3 million to an All County Fire Protection Fund.

Wood County is expected to receive $140,843.96 as part of the first part of that distribution, according to the letter from the governor.

County officials are planning to distribute the amount evenly between the 10 fire departments who also get money from the fire fee.

A second allocation of funds will be distributed in the near future to counties which have in place a countywide excess levy, or a countywide fee, dedicated to fire or emergency services, the letter said.

Voshel said some local departments are better off than others.

“Some are really struggling,” he said. “You have to take care of your stuff.

“The better you take care of your stuff, the longer it lasts.”

In the past before the fire fee, some firefighters ended up paying for their own gear, Colombo said. Couch added some departments had bald tires on their trucks.

“We are trying to get the word out on how important this is,” Voshel said. “We would like to see everyone get on board and help the fire departments.

“The departments need this money to survive.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com