ELKINS — Elkins Fire Department Chief Steve Himes said impending legislation in the West Virginia House and Senate could impact fire fees for the city and Randolph County.

During Elkins City Council’s March 20 meeting, Himes addressed a series of bills in both the state House and Senate that would amend and reenact portions of state code relating to “fees and charges for municipality provided fire services.” 

The bills, Himes said, would make changes to how municipalities like Elkins collect fire fees from areas outside of the city. He said there are 11 other municipalities in the state that have similar fire fees for those outside of city limits.

“I wouldn’t say some of it is completely out of line, but I don’t agree with all of it,” Himes said.

In 2016, Elkins implemented quarterly fire fees for home and business owners in the region who live or operate their business outside city limits that are covered by Elkins Fire Department. The area that falls under the fees is called the “first due area,” which encompasses approximately 150 miles. The Randolph County Commission implemented a similar fire fee charge for the entire county not long after.

According to the city’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Fire Budget, fire protection fees for this fiscal year will give the Elkins Fire Department an annual revenue of $885,000. This is the highest revenue listed for the fire department.

One of the bills the city is concerned about, House Bill 2866, would see to it that no “resident or business situated outside the boundaries of any municipality” would have to pay a fire protection fee or be charged ” without approval of the county commission.” The bill would also remove much of the red tape surrounding county commissions setting fees.

HB 2866 is sponsored by Delegate Adam Burkhammer, R-District 64, with no cosponsors. It has been with the House Government Organization Committee since Feb. 24.

Himes said the Senate bill the city is also concerned about revolves around ensuring that no resident is assessed twice and receives both city and county fire fees when they should not. The Senate bill would also see cities have to receive approval from county commissions if they want to enact a fee or have a rate change.

Himes said he had spoken to a state senator from Greenbrier County about the Senate bill, and while he believes the senator understands Elkins’ concerns about the bill, they both decided to “agree to disagree on some things.”

City Attorney Geraldine Roberts was the first to inform the council, and the public, of HB 2866 and what it meant for the city and county, during the council’s March 6 meeting. Himes was absent from the March 6 meeting.

“This hierarchy somehow that people think county should approve what cities do, doesn’t make any sense,” Roberts said during the March 6 meeting. “You (the city council) understand that the power you have as a body comes from the state. That is where your power comes, not from the county.”

Roberts and Himes both said no one has been purposely double-charged by both the city and the county.

“If you had chosen to, you could have charged the people outside the city one and half times what you charge the residents of the city,” Roberts reminded the council. “The decision at the time was to make it the same (as the city fees). So you are actually not charging as much as you could per square foot for commercial properties or for the residential.”

When asked by City Clerk Sutton Stokes, during the March 6 meeting, what would happen to the fire department if they were unable to collect fees from outside of city limits, City Treasurer Tracy Judy didn’t mince words about the impact on firefighter positions and response times.

“You would lose six positions and you’d have three firefighters, like it used to be 10 years ago,” Judy said. “One working a 24-hour shift, waiting for people, maybe another volunteer, before they could respond… It would be devastating.”

Judy also mentioned that the ISO rating, or Public Protection Classification, in the area had gone down over the years because the fire department has more firefighters and faster response times, which causes reductions in the cost of homeowners insurance.

Roberts, during the March 6 meeting, admitted she didn’t believe the responsibility and obligation to respond to calls outside of city limits would go away if the first due area fire fees were removed, but residents within city limits would have to financially support those calls. There would also be an issue of the fire department being unable to properly support other departments in and out of the county, she said.

“It’s really important at this day and age, where we’ve got property and people that are in jeopardy when you make these changes about public safety,” Roberts said.

During the March 20 meeting, Himes and Roberts explained that the fees are not just for the fire department to respond to fires, but also water rescues, accidents and other services the department provides.

“When people call 911, if they can’t shoot it or they can’t put a bandaid on it, who do you think they call?” Himes asked with a chuckle.