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Fire Dept. Services Compensation Up Again For Salisbury and Wicomico County

Salisbury Fire Department Website

Mayor Jim Ireton says the Salisbury is not being fairly compensated for the services that its fire department  provides in Wicomico County.

Under the current agreement the department serves over 56 percent of the county population and responds to more than 62% of the service calls.

But, says the Mayor, it does not get equal funding for the amount of work it does.

Ireton wants the new county leaders to take up the issue in the next fiscal year to address of a gap that, he says, amounts to over $2 million which has been paid by the city tax payers.

One proposal is to drop the county property tax rate for residents in Salisbury, Fruitland and Delmar to compensate for the additional expense.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.