Decatur Fire Chief Mike Richardson has asked the county to look at a more equitable funding formula for local fire departments.
During Monday’s workshop, Richardson shared with the Decatur City Council a presentation on fire department funding and the challenges faced by departments in areas where the population is growing. He shared the same information recently with County Judge J.D. Clark.
Richardson said this discussion began last year during budget talks regarding the fire department and the number of calls that were in the county compared to the city.
“It gets to the point where I come to you saying, ‘I need more and more money to be able to run this increase in calls every year,'” Richardson said. “The discussion is then, ‘How much of that is out in the county, and how does that compare to the rest of the county?'”