Giving Away Canton's Fire Department

The current debate over the county's proposal to take over Canton's
fire department boils down to the age old question of cost versus
quality. Last week County Manager Jerry Cooper made the statement,
"This will save the Canton Taxpayers millions". That is true. It is
also true that we could, "Save Cherokee County Taxpayers
millions" by selling the expensive new office building and moving the
county offices into trailers. Both statements carry the same amount of
ridiculousness and superficial short term thinking.

Have you read the county's proposal? Have you compared what they are
offering to what we currently have? Why do you think they so desperately want Canton's fire department? Remember the Bobo Boondoggle?

The proposal states that the goal will be an average response time of
under 8 minutes. Canton's consistently proven response time is less
than 5 minutes and is usually closer to 4 minutes. The myth that the
county will somehow pay for the new fire stations is exposed. Canton's
SPLOST funds will pay for the new stations as stated in the proposal.
There is no guarantee that the Downtown station will remain open.
There is no mention of the Bluffs station whatsoever.

Part of the proposal includes Canton giving away it's 4 million worth
of fire equipment along with a two year cancellation clause. Yes they
want us to hand over every dimes worth of Taxpayer paid for assets AND
to agree that they could simply cancel all fire protection for the
city with a two year notice. They clearly state that Canton's hard
earned ISO rating of four could be diminished to their inferior rating
of 5/9. It is stated that Canton's superior equipment will be spread
throughout the county.

The hot potato of the senior exemption would remain Canton's problem to
deal even though the city would be completely out of the fire
business. The county will simply bill the city once a year for 3.394
mils of our total tax digest; and that is just the first year. Most
years the county raises taxes - most years the city does not.

Yes we do pay a premium to live in the city and we receive superior
services for our money. Last year when a small and short lived
movement was started to dissolve the city, we discovered that the
total premium cost to be a city resident was about $150 a year per
$100,000 of property value. If the city does not provide superior
services then why should it exist at all?

Cherkoee County has a very good county fire service. However, fire
protection in the large, spread out Cherokee County is vastly
different than fire protection in the tightly, compact City of Canton.

I will not be a participant in the diminishment of Canton's obligation
to protect it's citizens to the highest possible level. Giving away
the fire department would not only be a step backward in life/safety,
it would also be a step forward in the reduction of our city to that
of the county's lowest common denominator.