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3 <br />County Actors in Providing Fire Services <br />Counties may appoint a fire marshal or assign the duties of a fire marshal to other county <br />employees. The county board of commissioners sets the duties of the fire marshal including but <br />not limited to, advising the board on improvements and assisting volunteer fire departments in <br />improving their capabilities. (G.S. 153A -234) In addition, the board of county commissioners <br />can appoint a three - person fire protection district commission to administer funds to provide fire <br />protection to the district (G.S. 69 -25.7) under the supervision of the county commissioners. <br />Funding County Fire Protection Services <br />There are a variety of ways in which a county can finance rural fire protection services: <br />• Appropriate general fund revenue <br />• Establish a rural fine protection district funded by property taxes in response to resident <br />property owner petition and a vote <br />• The board of commissioners may designate certain areas as service districts and taxes can <br />be levied to fund fire protection. Like a rural fire district, a service district does require <br />additional taxes, but does not require a vote <br />• Fire protection may be funded privately <br />Rural Fire Protection Districts (Chapter 69 of the North Carolina General Statutes) <br />According to G.S. 69 -25.1, to establish a tax - supported rural fire protection district 35 percent of <br />residents living in areas outside of the corporate limits of cities or towns must petition for the <br />establishment of a rural fire district. After this petition, the board of county commissioners must <br />call an election in the district designated by the petition to ask "qualified voters" for the approval <br />of a special tax on property to provide fire protection in the district. This tax may not exceed 15 <br />cents per $100 of property value. If a rural fire district was established with a valuation of 10 <br />cents per $100 of property value, the board of county commissioners may call an election in that <br />district to increase the maximum tax rate to 15 cents. Money generated by this tax should be <br />kept in a special fund used only to furnish fire protection within the rural fire district. In this <br />case, the taxes levied for fire protection may also be used for emergency medical, rescue, and <br />ambulance services. (G.S. 69 -25.4) <br />G.S. 69 -25.5 describes ways in which the board of county commissioners may use the money <br />collected under the tax levied in the rural fire district. County commissioners may use the funds <br />levied by this tax to provide fire protection by: <br />• Contracting with an incorporated city or town <br />• Contracting with an incorporated nonprofit volunteer fire department or community fire <br />department <br />• Contracting with the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources <br />• Furnishing protection itself if the county has its own fire department <br />• Establishing its own fire department <br />• Using any two or more of the above listed methods <br />Service Districts <br />Under the County Services District Act of 1973, the board of county commissioners may create a <br />service district in order to finance, provide, or maintain traditional urban services. This includes <br />fire protection services (153A -301). In order to establish a service district, the board of county <br />