It's time to pay fire dues to the Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire-EMS Department and, for city residents, that payment is on the water bill. But, there are many people within the fire department's jurisdiction who are not within the city limits. Their bills are mailed to them, Fire Chief Jack Wassman said.
"We want to thank everyone for their support," Wassman said. The fire dues are one of the ways the department is funded.
Wassman said sometimes an address will "slip through the cracks" and someone who is inside the city limits and has paid their dues on their water bill will receive a bill in the mail. "We apologize for the error," he said advising persons who have paid their dues to disregard any additional bills.
Wassman said the ordinance establishing the $48 per year fee allows for the fee per land parcel and does not attach a fee to open land, churches, cemeteries. "We don't send the information, we formulate the list," he said, explaining that the Rural Fire Protection Association out of Little Rock mails the bills at no charge to the Fire Department.
"We apologize for the error," he said, and advised persons who have already paid their dues to disregard any additional bills.
Wassman explained that Fire Department personnel work off the list of properties provided by Benton County officials and coordinate with officials from the Water Department to try to cross off all open parcels and parcels inside the city limits.
There are 3,420 different parcels within the Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department District, Wassman said, with about 950 of them outside the city limits. He said the city ordinances provides authorization for the Fire Department to charge the property owner for responding to a fire call on their property if they haven't paid their dues.
General News on 01/22/2020