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Service Districts <br />Under the County Services District Act of 1973, the board of county commissioners may <br />create a service district in order to finance, provide, or maintain traditional urban <br />services. This includes fire protection services (153A-301). In order to establish a <br />service district, the board of county commissioners must hold a public hearing before <br />adopting the final resolution which creates the district. In order to establish a district, it is <br />necessary that all of the following apply: <br />• Demonstrable need <br />It is impossible or impractical to provide those services on a countywide basis <br />It is economically feasible to provide those services to the district without <br />unreasonable taxes <br />• Demonstrable demand in the district (153A-302(a1)) <br />A special district only for fire services may also be taxed, by resolution from the board of <br />county commissioners under G.S. 153A-309, to provide emergency medical, rescue, <br />and ambulance services. Under G.S. 153A-307, the county may levy additional property <br />taxes in the service area to finance the service as well as use unrestricted money from <br />the general funds. In addition, the board of county commissioners can adopt a <br />resolution within the first 90 days before the public hearing to create the service district <br />to limit the service tax to 15 cents per $100 of property (G.S. 153A-309.2). Overall, the <br />service district and county tax may not exceed $1.50 per $100 of property value (G.S. <br />153A-307). <br />Insurance Districts <br />Under G.S. 153A-233, the board of county commissioners may designate rural fire <br />districts as insurance districts. In this case, the board of commissioners set boundaries <br />for insurance-grading purposes. These districts are served by a rural fire department but <br />are not supported by a specific district tax. One advantage of creating an insurance <br />district is that property owners may receive reduced fire insurance rates if the district is <br />approved. In order to provide fire protection for these districts, the county generally <br />contracts with a volunteer or city fire department and pays for this protection with <br />unrestricted general funds. <br />County and rural fire departments, communications, and water supplies are evaluated by <br />the Office of the State Fire Marshal on a scale of 1 to 10 for insurance purposes. <br />Property insurance rates in the jurisdiction of a fire department with a 9 rating will be the <br />highest and 1 will be the lowest. A rating of 10 considers that jurisdiction to have no fire <br />protection. To achieve a 9S (9) rating, several requirements must be met, including the <br />fire department must be incorporated, a fire station must be within 5 road miles of the <br />property, and the department must have a minimum of 20 personnel (18 designated as <br />firefighters). A complete list of these requirements can be found at <br />http://www.ncdoi.com/OSFM/RI/Documents/9S Reguirement.pdf. <br />Training, Prevention, and Inspection <br />The State Fire and Rescue Commission, part of the North Carolina Department of <br />Insurance, establishes minimum qualifications for fire and rescue service personnel. <br />Firefighters may go through a voluntary certification program in which the performance <br />standards are based on the National Fire Protection Administration (NFPA) standards <br />