Mike James/The Independent
Greenup — The Greenup City Council last week gave initial approval to a measure that would reserve all the money raised by its insurance tax for fire protection.
The change would return the insurance tax ordinance, first adopted in 1978, to its original language by rescinding a revision made in 1983.
The revision allowed the council to use the money for general needs and left it up to the council to decide how much the fire department should get.
The proposed change, on which the council will have to vote again to make law, would put all proceeds of the tax at the disposal of the fire department.
According to Mayor Donna Hewlett, the tax will bring in about $183,500 this year and if the measure is adopted the fire department would receive it all.
The department’s current budget is about $116,500 and it also gets $8,250 from the state, a total of $124,750 Hewlett said.
While the fire department would have priority, it would not need the entire sum, said council member Mark Harris, who proposed the change. His proposal calls for 33 percent of the tax receipts to be made available for other city needs if the fire department does not need it. “We don’t need the full $180,000,” he said.
Harris, who has been a Greenup firefighter since 1981, said the department has not been getting the full budget amount for several years. Last year, he said, the department spent about 60 percent of the budget amount.
The department needs a new station, or at least roof repairs, and will soon need a new truck, he said. Greenup also needs hydrants in several key locations, he said.
Harris believes reverting to the original ordinance is a matter of fairness because the rationale for the tax was the lack of money from existing taxes to fund fire protection.
He believes the city has gotten accustomed to tapping the insurance tax for other needs at the expense of fire protection.
The change would insure that the department gets the money it needs to operate and upgrade, he said.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.
