Fire association to get loan for rig

Burt Wilson says he’s feeling calmer these days.

Wilson, treasurer of the Mitchell Rural Fire Association, says he has accepted the fact that his organization will have to borrow money to finance about 20 percent of a new $55,000 grass rig.

He was expecting approximately $17,000 from Davison County but has collected only $5,990. Now, the group will borrow money from a local bank at 6 percent interest.

“If I had known earlier we wouldn’t be getting more money from the county we could have borrowed the money at a lower interest rate,” he said. “I was disappointed.”

Wilson said previous conversations with the commissioners led him to believe the entire $17,000 could be taken from the county secondary roads budget for areas that formerly composed Mitchell Township. That township was dissolved and roads that normally were a township responsibility were transferred to county care.

The balance of the bill for the fire rig will be covered by other entities in the rural association’s service area, which includes portions of Beulah, Lisbon and Prosper townships; all of Perry Township; and parts of Plano and Hanson townships in Hanson County. Several townships have approved opt-outs to pay for their share of the new fire equipment, Wilson said.

Auditor Susan Kiepke says the association gets about $3,000 annually from the county’s secondary roads budget; the $5,990 it received covers about two years of funding the association never officially requested from the county. The commissioners passed a supplemental budget appropriation to supply the cash.

Wilson still contends he was led to believe the entire amount could be taken from the secondary roads budget.

“I think it was a misunderstanding,” said Kiepke. The commissioners also believe the association was confusing budgeted amounts with actual available cash.

Commission Chairman Jerry Fischer said state audit guidelines don’t allow the county to shift already budgeted money to a different purpose.

Fischer later said the county has some flexibility for the use of contingency funds, “but that might mean that we’re robbing some other account and we’re not going to do that.” He says the association is aware that it should have planned better.

“Hopefully, now they’ll get on the right path,” Fischer said.

In recent years, the association has funded itself, in part, from insurance payments collected by members whose properties were served, and saved, by the organization’s grass rig. The members submitted claims to the insurance company and then passed the insurance payments on to the fire district, Wilson explained.

The fire association has not been regularly collecting assessments from its members, and that may have been a mistake, Wilson said.

“We just kept enough money on hand to cover expenses and to maintain a small reserve,” he said.

In hindsight, the association should also have been collecting from members on an annual basis, Wilson said.

Fire associations, unlike fire protection districts — which can levy up to 60 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation — cannot levy the property taxes of members to build up a funding base.

As part of a three-year agreement signed last year with the Mitchell Fire Division, the association has until Dec. 31 to replace the association’s aging fire rig, which Mitchell Chief of Public Safety Lyndon Overweg described as being on “its last legs.”

As part of its agreement with the city, the association pays the fire division $5,000 for salaries, equipment, gas, repairs and insurance. The old fire rig has been racking up excessive repair bills, said Overweg.

The rig answers five to 10 calls a year. The new grass rig will be available for use later this month.

The agreement’s deadline provided the prod the association needed to get the equipment problem solved, Wilson said.

“It’s been a long, bumpy road, but it will be good when it’s done,” he said.

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