Cherokee County Formalizes Plan For Canton Fire Consolidation

Despite the majority of the Canton City Council opposing consolidating fire services with Cherokee County, leaders with the county government are still not ready to give up on striking a deal. 

Cherokee County Manager Jerry Cooper on Friday released two documents, a proposed ordinance and a proposed agreement, that spell out what consolidating means for both sides. 

The proposal calls for the county to construct a new fire station near the Laurel Canyon and Great Sky neighborhoods along Highway 140 and another near Commerce Boulevard and Highway 140, which would be near the replacement Northside Hospital-Cherokee facility.

The county would then transfer its staffing and equipment from Station 9 to the new station near the two neighborhoods and from Station 3 to the one near the new hospital.  

If the agreement and ordinance are approved, the county would like to complete construction on the station near Laurel Canton in 2014 and the one replacing near the new hospital in 2015.

Cooper said there's no timeline in place to implement the proposal, which he said was developed after a year of consulting with Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather and the County Commission. 

Under the proposal, consolidation would also mean: 

• The city would pay the county the amount that equals the county's 3.394 fire district millage rate multiplied by its tax digest. That amount would be determined before the city factors in any exemptions, including its senior homestead exemption.
• Existing city of Canton Fire Department employees would become county employees, and Canton Fire Chief Dean Floyd would become a member of Prather's executive staff; Floyd would also serve as a liaison between canton city leaders and staff.
• Canton would agree to transfer $500,000 from its Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST, 2012 program, and any impact fees collected towards fire services. This money would be used towards the design and construction costs for the station near Laurel Canyon. 
• the county would provide a credit to the city that would offset the city's operating costs for capital assets.
• the city would maintain ownership of its downtown fire station. Canton could possibly lease a portion to the county for fire services and use the remaining portion for city operations. 

Cherokee County District 1 Commissioner Harry Johnston, a city of Canton resident, noted the credit is necessary as Canton would be contributing a "significant" amount of assets.

The county would discount its fire services billing by 10 percent over the course of five years and that discount would gradually be phased out over the following five years.

Johnston said he believes the proposal by Cooper won't be enough for the City Council as there's a lot of "civic pride" that goes along with the city owning and maintaining its own fire department. Something he said he can fully understand.

"It will take them a good deal to come around," he added. 

The proposal from the county bypasses the question of senior homestead exemptions and whether the county would be able to continue granting the exemptions to current Canton homeowners if consolidation were to happen.  

Cherokee County has a similar agreement with the city of Holly Springs where the city pays the county an annual fee once a year.

The proposed ordinance comes on the heels of Canton residents rejecting the fire bond referendum. Since the referendum failure, the Canton City Council has voted to hire an outside firm to perform a fire services study. 

See the attached .PDFs to read both the proposed agreement and ordinance.