firebuff08

Having read each and every post on this thread and having read all of the background regarding the South Fulton/Obion County situation, it is clear to me that many posters have a serious problem with reading comprehension and a serious problem seeing things in a context other than what the know from their day-to-day experiences.
Lets look at some facts --Obion County is extremely rural. It is 545 square miles of land area -- that is 95 square miles larger than Westchester County. The population of Obion County -- THE ENTIRE COUNTY, including residents of 8 cities is 32,450 people!!! Westchester's population is close to one million people. Attempting to view the situation in Obion County in light of the way things are in Westchester is insane.
In TN, you either live in a City or you live in the unincorporated County. There are NO TOWNS. County Government is extremely limited and County taxes are extremely low. Residents outside the Cities are NOT Taxed for fire protection. Fire Protection is NOT provided. People know that when they build their homes in areas outside City boundaries. That is a major reason why they build there. They don't want to be bothered by government, by other people and they hate paying taxes. They obviously also hate services that are provided by taxes and that is why they freely choose to live without those services, including fire protection.
At some point, the local government officials in the City of South Fulton decided that it would be possible to extend the service of the City's Volunteer Fire Department (a department paid for by the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton through their taxes)to certain residents of Obion County who reside within a reasonable response time to South Fulton. The City government established a Fee of $75 per year for the service it agreed to provide to property owners in unincorporated Obion County. Each property owner in the parts of Obion County, lying outside the city limits of South Fulton, was then free to make a conscious decision to purchase fire protection that they never had previously, for the sum of $75.00 per year or to continue living they way that had forever, without any fire protection at all. In this particular case, the homeowner decided to take his chances and not pay the fee. His decision, freely made. He gambled and lost. Nobody forced him to locate his home in an area that does not have fire protection. He freely chose to do that.
If if were a taxpayer in the City of South Fulton, and the local volunteer fire department, operating on my tax dollars, had chosen to extinguish a fire in a Obion County, for a homeowner who had NOT paid the $75.00 fee, I would be in court the next day to sue the fire department and every member who misappropriated taxpayer financed equipment to fight the fire. It would be an open and shut case. The fire department would lose. Responding outside the City Limits of South Fulton to fight fires in unincorporated Obion County is NOT Mutual Aid because there is no organized fire protection in the unincorporated areas of the county. The fire department has a fiduciary and moral responsibility to those who pay for the service -- the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton and those county residents who have entered into individual contracts for department service. They would be violating that fiduciary and moral responsibility if they extinguished a fire for someone who freely chose NOT to avail himself of that service.
Why is it so hard for so many to understand this concept.

Having read each and every post on this thread and having read all of the background regarding the South Fulton/Obion County situation, it is clear to me that many posters have a serious problem with reading comprehension and a serious problem seeing things in a context other than what the know from their day-to-day experiences.
Lets look at some facts --Obion County is extremely rural. It is 545 square miles of land area -- that is 95 square miles larger than Westchester County. The population of Obion County -- THE ENTIRE COUNTY, including residents of 8 cities is 32,450 people!!! Westchester's population is close to one million people. Attempting to view the situation in Obion County in light of the way things are in Westchester is insane.
In TN, you either live in a City or you live in the unincorporated County. There are NO TOWNS. County Government is extremely limited and County taxes are extremely low. Residents outside the Cities are NOT Taxed for fire protection. Fire Protection is NOT provided. People know that when they build their homes in areas outside City boundaries. That is a major reason why they build there. They don't want to be bothered by government, by other people and they hate paying taxes. They obviously also hate services that are provided by taxes and that is why they freely choose to live without those services, including fire protection.
At some point, the local government officials in the City of South Fulton decided that it would be possible to extend the service of the City's Volunteer Fire Department (a department paid for by the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton through their taxes)to certain residents of Obion County who reside within a reasonable response time to South Fulton. The City government established a Fee of $75 per year for the service it agreed to provide to property owners in unincorporated Obion County. Each property owner in the parts of Obion County, lying outside the city limits of South Fulton, was then free to make a conscious decision to purchase fire protection that they never had previously, for the sum of $75.00 per year or to continue living they way that had forever, without any fire protection at all. In this particular case, the homeowner decided to take his chances and not pay the fee. His decision, freely made. He gambled and lost. Nobody forced him to locate his home in an area that does not have fire protection. He freely chose to do that.
If if were a taxpayer in the City of South Fulton, and the local volunteer fire department, operating on my tax dollars, had chosen to extinguish a fire in a Obion County, for a homeowner who had NOT paid the $75.00 fee, I would be in court the next day to sue the fire department and every member who misappropriated taxpayer financed equipment to fight the fire. It would be an open and shut case. The fire department would lose. Responding outside the City Limits of South Fulton to fight fires in unincorporated Obion County is NOT Mutual Aid because there is no organized fire protection in the unincorporated areas of the county. The fire department has a fiduciary and moral responsibility to those who pay for the service -- the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton and those county residents who have entered into individual contracts for department service. They would be violating that fiduciary and moral responsibility if they extinguished a fire for someone who freely chose NOT to avail himself of that service.
Why is it so hard for so many to understand this concept.

Having read each and every post on this thread and having read all of the background regarding the South Fulton/Obion County situation, it is clear to me that many posters have a serious problem with reading comprehension and a serious problem seeing things in a context other than what the know from their day-to-day experiences.
Lets look at some facts --Obion County is extremely rural. It is 545 square miles of land area -- that is 95 square miles larger than Westchester County. The population of Obion County -- THE ENTIRE COUNTY, including residents of 8 cities is 32,450 people!!! Westchester's population is close to one million people. Attempting to view the situation in Obion County in light of the way things are in Westchester is insane.
In TN, you either live in a City or you live in the unincorporated County. There are NO TOWNS. County Government is extremely limited and County taxes are extremely low. Residents outside the Cities are NOT Taxed for fire protection. Fire Protection is NOT provided. People know that when they build their homes in areas outside City boundaries. That is a major reason why they build there. They don't want to be bothered by government, by other people and they hate paying taxes. They obviously also hate services that are provided by taxes and that is why they freely choose to live without those services, including fire protection.
At some point, the local government officials in the City of South Fulton decided that it would be possible to extend the service of the City's Volunteer Fire Department (a department paid for by the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton through their taxes)to certain residents of Obion County who reside within a reasonable response time to South Fulton. The City government established a Fee of $75 per year for the service it agreed to provide to property owners in unincorporated Obion County. Each property owner in the parts of Obion County, lying outside the city limits of South Fulton, was then free to make a conscious decision to purchase fire protection that they never had previously, for the sum of $75.00 per year or to continue living they way that had forever, without any fire protection at all. In this particular case, the homeowner decided to take his chances and not pay the fee. His decision, freely made. He gambled and lost. Nobody forced him to locate his home in an area that does not have fire protection. He freely chose to do that.
If if were a taxpayer in the City of South Fulton, and the local volunteer fire department, operating on my tax dollars, had chosen to extinguish a fire in a Obion County, for a homeowner who had NOT paid the $75.00 fee, I would be in court the next day to sue the fire department and every member who misappropriated taxpayer financed equipment to fight the fire. It would be an open and shut case. The fire department would lose. Responding outside the City Limits of South Fulton to fight fires in unincorporated Obion County is NOT Mutual Aid because there is no organized fire protection in the unincorporated areas of the county. The fire department has a fiduciary and moral responsibility to those who pay for the service -- the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton and those county residents who have entered into individual contracts for department service. They would be violating that fiduciary and moral responsibility if they extinguished a fire for someone who freely chose NOT to avail himself of that service.
Why is it so hard for so many to understand this concept.

Having read each and every post on this thread and having read all of the background regarding the South Fulton/Obion County situation, it is clear to me that many posters have a serious problem with reading comprehension and a serious problem seeing things in a context other than what the know from their day-to-day experiences.
Lets look at some facts --Obion County is extremely rural. It is 545 square miles of land area -- that is 95 square miles larger than Westchester County. The population of Obion County -- THE ENTIRE COUNTY, including residents of 8 cities is 32,450 people!!! Westchester's population is close to one million people. Attempting to view the situation in Obion County in light of the way things are in Westchester is insane.
In TN, you either live in a City or you live in the unincorporated County. There are NO TOWNS. County Government is extremely limited and County taxes are extremely low. Residents outside the Cities are NOT Taxed for fire protection. Fire Protection is NOT provided. People know that when they build their homes in areas outside City boundaries. That is a major reason why they build there. They don't want to be bothered by government, by other people and they hate paying taxes. They obviously also hate services that are provided by taxes and that is why they freely choose to live without those services, including fire protection.
At some point, the local government officials in the City of South Fulton decided that it would be possible to extend the service of the City's Volunteer Fire Department (a department paid for by the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton through their taxes)to certain residents of Obion County who reside within a reasonable response time to South Fulton. The City government established a Fee of $75 per year for the service it agreed to provide to property owners in unincorporated Obion County. Each property owner in the parts of Obion County, lying outside the city limits of South Fulton, was then free to make a conscious decision to purchase fire protection that they never had previously, for the sum of $75.00 per year or to continue living they way that had forever, without any fire protection at all. In this particular case, the homeowner decided to take his chances and not pay the fee. His decision, freely made. He gambled and lost. Nobody forced him to locate his home in an area that does not have fire protection. He freely chose to do that.
If if were a taxpayer in the City of South Fulton, and the local volunteer fire department, operating on my tax dollars, had chosen to extinguish a fire in a Obion County, for a homeowner who had NOT paid the $75.00 fee, I would be in court the next day to sue the fire department and every member who misappropriated taxpayer financed equipment to fight the fire. It would be an open and shut case. The fire department would lose. Responding outside the City Limits of South Fulton to fight fires in unincorporated Obion County is NOT Mutual Aid because there is no organized fire protection in the unincorporated areas of the county. The fire department has a fiduciary and moral responsibility to those who pay for the service -- the taxpayers of the City of South Fulton and those county residents who have entered into individual contracts for department service. They would be violating that fiduciary and moral responsibility if they extinguished a fire for someone who freely chose NOT to avail himself of that service.
Why is it so hard for so many to understand this concept.

I feel for the firefighters in Lawrence, but the City is in a bind and from what I can determine, the situation will continue to get worse, not better.
The City is in such bad financial shape that its finances have been taken over by the State of MA, similar to what happened to Waterbury, CT and other poor cities in the past.
Lawrence, MA is a WELFARE City.....it has a population that is decidedly younger than the MA average and an average family income that is half that for the State of MA.
The City's Grand List, the total value of all real property, continues to decline as abandoned buildings burn down or are torn down or are taken over by the City because the owners have not paid taxes for years.
Residential properties make up 78 percent of the City's taxpaying properties!!!!! And no wonder,who would want to locate a business in a City where the tax rate on commercial property is twice that of residential. The real problem there is the forgotten rule of economics ---NO BUSINESS CAN PAY TAXES. IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND NO BUSINESS HAS EVER PAID A PENNY OF TAXES AND NO BUSINESS EVER WILL. Taxing business is a scam by government to hide the amount of taxes you are paying. As an Economist by Education, I can tell you that every penny of tax levied on a business is paid by the customers of that business in the form of higher prices for goods and services. So the plan is Lawrence is self defeating. A business located in Lawrence, which is a tiny place of less than 7 square miles, is at an economic disadvantage to a business located in an adjacent town, because it must charge more to account for the higher taxes.
It looks like the Mutual Aid system is broken in that it has become strictly one way. The other towns around Lawrence, need to protect their own taxpayers. While I do not advocate that they stop aiding Lawrence firefighters, the other towns should set a limit on how many mutual aid calls they will do in a year for free (based on the number of mutual aids they expect to receive from Lawrence). After that, there should be an hourly rate, per truck, sent to Lawrence to cover the cost of providing the service. Or at some point, officials in the surrounding towns could face lawsuits from their own taxpayers angry over paying for services to Lawrence that Lawrence should be providing but simply can not.

I feel for the firefighters in Lawrence, but the City is in a bind and from what I can determine, the situation will continue to get worse, not better.
The City is in such bad financial shape that its finances have been taken over by the State of MA, similar to what happened to Waterbury, CT and other poor cities in the past.
Lawrence, MA is a WELFARE City.....it has a population that is decidedly younger than the MA average and an average family income that is half that for the State of MA.
The City's Grand List, the total value of all real property, continues to decline as abandoned buildings burn down or are torn down or are taken over by the City because the owners have not paid taxes for years.
Residential properties make up 78 percent of the City's taxpaying properties!!!!! And no wonder,who would want to locate a business in a City where the tax rate on commercial property is twice that of residential. The real problem there is the forgotten rule of economics ---NO BUSINESS CAN PAY TAXES. IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND NO BUSINESS HAS EVER PAID A PENNY OF TAXES AND NO BUSINESS EVER WILL. Taxing business is a scam by government to hide the amount of taxes you are paying. As an Economist by Education, I can tell you that every penny of tax levied on a business is paid by the customers of that business in the form of higher prices for goods and services. So the plan is Lawrence is self defeating. A business located in Lawrence, which is a tiny place of less than 7 square miles, is at an economic disadvantage to a business located in an adjacent town, because it must charge more to account for the higher taxes.
It looks like the Mutual Aid system is broken in that it has become strictly one way. The other towns around Lawrence, need to protect their own taxpayers. While I do not advocate that they stop aiding Lawrence firefighters, the other towns should set a limit on how many mutual aid calls they will do in a year for free (based on the number of mutual aids they expect to receive from Lawrence). After that, there should be an hourly rate, per truck, sent to Lawrence to cover the cost of providing the service. Or at some point, officials in the surrounding towns could face lawsuits from their own taxpayers angry over paying for services to Lawrence that Lawrence should be providing but simply can not.

I feel for the firefighters in Lawrence, but the City is in a bind and from what I can determine, the situation will continue to get worse, not better.
The City is in such bad financial shape that its finances have been taken over by the State of MA, similar to what happened to Waterbury, CT and other poor cities in the past.
Lawrence, MA is a WELFARE City.....it has a population that is decidedly younger than the MA average and an average family income that is half that for the State of MA.
The City's Grand List, the total value of all real property, continues to decline as abandoned buildings burn down or are torn down or are taken over by the City because the owners have not paid taxes for years.
Residential properties make up 78 percent of the City's taxpaying properties!!!!! And no wonder,who would want to locate a business in a City where the tax rate on commercial property is twice that of residential. The real problem there is the forgotten rule of economics ---NO BUSINESS CAN PAY TAXES. IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND NO BUSINESS HAS EVER PAID A PENNY OF TAXES AND NO BUSINESS EVER WILL. Taxing business is a scam by government to hide the amount of taxes you are paying. As an Economist by Education, I can tell you that every penny of tax levied on a business is paid by the customers of that business in the form of higher prices for goods and services. So the plan is Lawrence is self defeating. A business located in Lawrence, which is a tiny place of less than 7 square miles, is at an economic disadvantage to a business located in an adjacent town, because it must charge more to account for the higher taxes.
It looks like the Mutual Aid system is broken in that it has become strictly one way. The other towns around Lawrence, need to protect their own taxpayers. While I do not advocate that they stop aiding Lawrence firefighters, the other towns should set a limit on how many mutual aid calls they will do in a year for free (based on the number of mutual aids they expect to receive from Lawrence). After that, there should be an hourly rate, per truck, sent to Lawrence to cover the cost of providing the service. Or at some point, officials in the surrounding towns could face lawsuits from their own taxpayers angry over paying for services to Lawrence that Lawrence should be providing but simply can not.