The Franklin County Commission has agreed to provide some emergency funding to the Lanark Village/ St. James Fire Department to make sure it can keep operating through the rest of this year. Earlier this month the county commission agreed to provide the fire department with 5000 dollars so the department could continue to operate through the end of the year. Last week they increased that to 8895 dollars. Fire fighters said the cash is needed to help the fire department make its monthly mortgage payments and still keep enough in the bank to meet the requirements of its mortgage holder. They also need cash to pay for required equipment testing. All of Franklin County’s volunteer fire departments are facing tight budgets, but the Lanark Village is suffering the most. The department this year spent 7000 dollars more than it brought in and that included taking 5000 dollars out of savings. Earlier this year county commissioners increased the amount local homeowners pay to support fire and first responders units and they hoe that they will get their money back when the Fire departments receive their first MSBU payments in January. But they did recognize that might not happen. One of the reasons the Lanark Village Fire department is facing these financial problems is because some homeowners don’t pay their MSBU assessments which fund the fire departments. County commissioners pointed out that not paying the MSBU is a self defeating practice, because if the fire department were to shut down, those same homeowners could see their fire insurance rates double and that would cost much more than the annual MSBU.
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