SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - A recent consulting report has revealed that American Legion Georgetown EMS and the Memorial Volunteer Fire Company in Slaughter Beach are among the most financially strained emergency service providers in Sussex County.
The report, compiled by FACETS Consulting, analyzed the financial procedure, not operations, of all 24 fire companies across the county (though FACETS noted Mid-Sussex Rescue Squad did not participate in this study).
FACETS Consulting report showing fire companies' financial health grades on a red to green light scale.
The report recommends sweeping changes for all departments, including increased county oversight and the implementation of a fire service fee.
Captain Deanna Loeb of Georgetown EMS says she supports the measures.
"A lot of people relocate here. They retire here and they come from somewhere that already had that tax included in their property taxes. We don't have that in Sussex County. So a lot of people think they're already paying that tax and they're not," said Loeb.
Loeb says Georgetown EMS responded to 3,841 calls in 2024, emphasizing the need for infrastructure improvements.
"We're well overdue for a new building, but we do not have the funds to build that building," Loeb said. "We actually need to add a third crew for daytime to cover the district because we have so many calls, but we don't have the room to put those crews in here."
She says there are a lot of factors to the insufficient funds and she's not surprised by their low ranking.
"We have a large population in Georgetown that are underinsured or do not have insurance. So it's hard to collect from that patient that's been transported when they don't have the means to pay the bills. So we end up not collecting for some of our transports," said Loeb.
Loeb also says they're one of the only areas where their fire and ambulance are separate so operations are tougher for them compared to combination departments who may be able to share funding if needed.
Memorial Volunteer Fire Company in Slaughter Beach received an even lower financial health grade than Georgetown EMS.
CoastTV spoke with Slaughter Beach Fire Chief Kent Glasco, who says he has no comment about their score at this time, as they need more time to digest the report.
The only department that scored red, scoring lower than Memorial Volunteer Fire Company and American Legion Georgetown EMS was Dagsboro Fire Company, but the consultants attributed that to a one-time accelerated debt payment that affected multiple scoring factors. The president tells CoastTV they're repaying their loans sooner than they need to, which he says they've been financially advised to do.
Milton Fire Department tells CoastTV they believe their score is low due to their massive renovation that they're still paying off.