Grape Creek residents support fire tax
By Dwight Otwell

Residents of the Grape Creek community who attended a public hearing on May 22 want to be taxed by the county to support their volunteer fire department.

About 30 people attended a meeting of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, which was held at the Grape Creek Community Center. Public hearings have already been held concerning implementing fire taxes in Unaka and Culberson. Those are the only three fire service districts in the county that don't have special taxes to support the all-volunteer fire departments in their communities.

Grape Creek Fire Chief Verlon Enloe said that in the last five years, the department has managed to add two used trucks to its department.

"A lot of money comes from our own pockets," he said. "We don't have enough fund raisers for what it needed for the fire department.

"There has been a remarkable spirit of community service to fund a fire department on $2,000 in contributions (annually from the county), which is miniscule," said Commissioner David Sumpter.

Cherokee County Fire Marshall W.C. King said it costs $1,502 to outfit one firefighter.

Volunteer Firefighter Warren Golden said, "For personal protection, we deserve as much as anyone when we go in to fight a fire."

Golden said the Grape Creek Fire Department could cease to exist under the current lack of funding. He said that Grape Creek has some of the finest first responders and that the majority of calls answered by the department are medical.

Enloe said that last year the department had 95 calls and 80 percent were medical. Enloe said that if the fire department folds, home buyers would have problems obtaining loans from some lending sources.

Cherokee County Board Chairman Jonathan Dickey said fire districts have fire taxes of from four to seven cents. A four cent tax would bring in $16,315.04. Aseven cent tax would bring in $28,551.33, all of which would be used to support the fire department.

Each year at the first of October, the county would hand over the funds collected through the fire tax.

Enloe noted that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which has property in the Grape Creek community, contributes some money towards the fire department some years. Some years they may contribute $5,000 and some years nothing, he said.

Golden said that the department has been getting by with fundraisers and a small amount of contributions but with the price of gas and equipment increasing, it is becoming more difficult.

Dickey pointed out that the Grape Creek Fire District extends six road miles from the fire station. The district has a rating of nine for insurance purposes. If there were no fire department, the rating would go to 10 and insurance would be more expensive.

It is now up to the Board of Commissioners to create a Fire Service District for each of the three districts that have no fire tax. The board will also decide on the tax rate, which presently ranges between four and seven cents on each $100 of valuation.