Warren Co. Fiscal Court passes licensing fee for insurance companies to raise money for volunteer fire departments

WARREN COUNTY, Ky. – Early Thursday morning, Warren County Fiscal Court was packed with volunteer firefighters waiting to hear a decision on a ordinance that could greatly change the future of the volunteer fire departments in the county.

The Warren County magistrates voted 6-0 in favor of imposing a licensing fee on insurance companies and taking that money and putting it into a public safety fund. Some volunteer firefighters are saying this could be game changing for them and Warren County’s growing population.

“This is a game changer in that it fundamentally changes the way we are financed, and it will allow us to do a lot more with equipment, with recruitment, with the hiring of some paid personnel. It will allow us to keep up with the explosive growth of Warren County’s population,” Woodburn Volunteer Fire Department chief Bob Skipper said.

The money gathered from the fee will be spent on many different aspects of firefighting, from trucks and equipment, and will also be spent on the volunteers themselves, helping them to pay for staff to be at the ready as apposed to having all staff arrive from home or work. Investments like this can see huge dividends, as having firefighters at the ready decreases response times, thus saving more lives and property around Warren County.

“We are going to have a funding mechanism in place that will allow us to put part-time folks on payroll very quickly. Hopefully, I would say July or August is reasonable to think, and we’re going to strategically located throughout the county and provide timely service Monday through Friday during daytime hours as best we can to ensure that we are adequately meeting the expectations of the citizens,” Warren County Fire coordinator Bill Rector added.

Some are concerned, though, about an increase in price for homeowners insurance. However, county officials say their goal is to lower the ISO rating, which assess the quality of a communities fire protection. Officials say these measures can help lower ISO ratings across the county and can help bring down insurances prices for everyone.

Warren County judge executive Doug Gorman says that if they were to make no changes, the ISO rating would only increase with Warren County’s population boom and increase insurance rates across the county.

“If we do nothing, what I will tell you is I guarantee you insurance rates are going up. That’s the problem because we’re stretched thin. We do not have it. When this outside agency does a rating review of Warren County, they’re going to raise our rating, which raised rates. We want to maintain that and try to lower it. And our ultimate goal is to lower insurance, better fire protection with that lower insurance rather than do nothing and have everyone pay more,” Gorman said.

The county expects to see changes relatively soon beginning this coming summer as they look to add part-time staff to better respond to calls around Warren County.