LEWES, Del. - The Lewes Fire Department proposes a fee to help create a sustainable funding source as expenses increase.
The fee would be a $60 increase a year per household within the City of Lewes to help cover existing and impending expenses,
"We have a lot of debt. We're renovating one station. We've already we have a mortgage on the other station. Some of our equipment is old, needs to be replaced. We're down a couple of ambulances, which is very important that we maintain our fleet." said Lewes Fire Chief Greg Bennett.
The department is an independent organization, so the it also proposed to have the city contribute 16% of its total budget to them because 16% of its calls are in its city limits.
Chief Bennett also says how their call volume continues to increase with the continuous amount of people moving to the area. Excluding Wilmington, Lewes is the fifth busiest department in the state of Delaware, and is the busiest department in Sussex County.
"It's new homes going up. Road construction to road construction slows us down. And if we don't have an increase in support, it makes it very difficult for us and like I said, we're already at that tipping point financially." said Chief Bennett.
Last year, between EMS and fire, there were almost 7,000 runs. The chief says the cost of fuel, insurance, supplies, make it very difficult to keep their head above water on a day to day basis, given the expenses and the amount of responses that they have.
Last year, between EMS and fire, there were almost 7,000 runs. The chief says the cost of fuel, insurance, supplies, make it very difficult to keep their head above water on a day to day basis, given the expenses and the amount of responses that they have.
Rita Daniel, who has lived in Lewes for twenty years, says she is willing to pay the fee,
"It is necessary. My occupation was a nurse, registered nurse, and I came from D.C. and I think the more help they get, the better the service will be for everybody."
Chief Bennett says that a study will be conducted to understand the plausibility of having a fee for both EMS and fire in Lewes.
Chief Bennett says that a study will be conducted to understand the plausibility of having a fee for both EMS and fire in Lewes.