The Henry County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal allowing volunteer fire departments to bill for services during its meeting on Tuesday, May 27.
County Administrator Dale Wagoner said the county’s code authorizes the Department of Public Safety to charge for services and establish rules and regulations for administering those charges.
“The fire departments have agreed to adopt a compassionate billing policy, meaning they will invoice applicable insurance but will not pursue direct payments with individuals for any remaining balance,” he said.
Wagoner said the fees are based on national averages, with adjustments for local economic conditions.
Board Chairman Jim Adams, of the Blackberry District, asked how financial matters will be handled.
Public Safety Director Matt Tatum, speaking on behalf of the volunteer departments, said all fire incidents in the county are currently logged into an online database system.
“At last month’s meeting, you all approved a third-party vendor to handle the billing process, which would give them access to that online database to extract data and provide billing services. All the funds collected will go directly to the individual fire department accounts, which I would hope would be audited with their normal annual audit,” he said.
Tatum noted the process mirrors the one used by volunteer rescue squads for the past 15 years.
Adams asked whether the county’s paid public safety staff would also be allowed to bill for services.
Tatum responded yes and no. He said only the primary responding agency is authorized to submit a bill, and noted that more than 95 percent of fire calls are answered by volunteer fire departments.
“In the event that there was an incident the volunteers did not respond to, and public safety staff handled it without volunteer assistance, then we would have the ability to bill for that service, just like we would for EMS (Emergency Medical Services),” he said.
Vice chairman Joe Bryant, of the Collinsville District, said the system is similar to what is already in place for rescue squads.
“The only slight difference is with EMS, it’s patient-driven. So, if you have a motor vehicle crash with multiple patients, and all four volunteer rescue squads and public safety transported a patient, then all five of them would submit a bill,” Tatum said.
“With the fire billing, it’s not patient-driven, it’s incident-driven. So only the primary agency that’s responding is able to provide billing for that service,” he said.
Pam Cobler, of the Reed Creek District, asked if these funds were already available through residents’ insurance policies.
“It’s not like it’s going to be something additional that people have to pay on their insurance policies, or is it?” she asked.
Tatum said that Cobler was correct, explaining that the charges are designed to recover funds already built into insurance coverage.
“It’s not directed to individuals, it’s not directed to homeowners, it’s not directed to vehicle owners. It’s the insurance companies that provide the insurance,” he said.
Tatum said the amount of funds recovered is not expected to be a large sum.
He noted that a single fire engine is valued at more than half a million dollars and said preliminary estimates suggest each department may collect around $5,000 per year.
“It’s not a tremendous amount of money. I mean, it probably won’t even cover all the fuel that they burn, but every little bit does help. Five thousand dollars is a whole lot of hamburger steak dinners and a whole lot of hot dogs and bingo games, so hopefully it will bring a little bit of financial stress relief to the departments,” he said.
In other matters, the board:
*Heard a presentation of the draft Henry County Active Transportation Plan.
*Approved the appropriation of the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 county budget.
*Approved the items of consent.
*Heard an update on delinquent tax collection efforts.
*Approved the categorical transfer of $1,151,974 requested for the purchase of school buses.
*Approved the additional appropriations of $761,161 in state funds for the school employee bonuses as requested.
*Approved the transfer of current year funds totaling $690,000 for the capital items listed and $100,000 from the fund balance to go towards the construction cost of the proposed Martinsville-Henry County YMCA.
*Approved appropriating $25,000 in grant funds from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
*Approved appropriating $210,000 from the Auto Rental Tax to establish the District Impact Fund.
*Approved appropriating $450,000 from the general fund for the construction of up to four houses as part of the Villa Heights Housing Project and the appropriation of future revenues received from the sale of houses allowing for the construction of future houses within the project’s code.
*Approved the additional appropriation of $50,000 from the capital discretionary fund to award a contract of $83,360 to Motorola Solution for emergency radio system updates.
