OH Fire Department Starts Self Storage Business to Raise Money

Across the country, budgets for emergency services, including fire department budgets, have been shrinking steadily. Some departments have even begun to charge crash victims for the cost of responding to an accident or a fire. Now one Ohio fire department has found a more creative solution to its financing woes -- it is constructing a self storage facility. Profits from the self storage facility will provide funding for the fire department, easing the burden on local taxpayers.

The fire department in question is the Chester Volunteer Fire Department, or the Station 6 Fire Department, of Hancock County, Ohio.

“We’re putting up 88 storage buildings, or storage garages, for rent along U.S. Route 30,” Fire Chief John Hissam said in The Review today. “It’s called ‘Station 6 Storage’ and we hope to be up and running by November.”

“It’s a way that the fire department can sustain itself without draining the taxpayers constantly,” Chief Hissam continued.

The storage buildings are being constructed on five acres of land owned by Station 6, which is acting as its own developer for the project. There is room for more storage buildings to be added, if the need arises.

“If it works,” said Chief Hissam in The Review, “we will put another 100 in when the time comes.”

Currently, the Chester Volunteer Fire Department gets about 95 percent of its operating revenue from the  Fall Bash, its annual fundraiser. The money from the self storage operation will be added to that, leaving, hopefully, very little to be picked up by Hancock County taxpayers.

That’s a relief to many Ohioans who have been shocked by the rise in crash taxes -- an idea which originally came from an Ohio corporation, Cost Recovery Corporation. About six or seven years ago (according to a Sept. 7 Fox News story) Cost Recovery Corporation began approaching government agencies with the idea of billing out-of-town accident victims for the cost of responding to their accidents. Now, some states are outlawing the practice, and several communities that had given it a try are backing out of their “crash tax” plans.

That still leaves local fire departments short of cash, though. Federal money for state emergency response programs is starting to disappear, and as municipalities lose the state aid that came from that federal money, local fire and police department budgets are being slashed. A National League of Cities survey quoted in the June 23 issue of Daily Finance noted that 22 percent of cities are planning to cut their budgets for fire and police protection. Adding to budgetary pressures are cities in which taxpayers vote for no new tax increases.

In the months to come, more fire and police departments may go into business on the side, to try to make up their budget shortfalls. Analysts say that although the economy has begun to recover, local governments tend to lag 12 to 18 months behind the rest of the economy, so it may be more than a year before the budget crisis even begins to abate.

Sources used:

Barnes, Ed. “Accident victims increasingly being hit again -- with ‘crash taxes.’” FOX News. Sept. 7, 2010.

Bell, Kay. “Drivers, look out for crash taxes.” Bankrate blog. Sept. 1, 2010.

Berr, Jonathan. “Police and fire departments struggle as local budgets tighten.” Daily Finance. June 23, 2010.

McElwain, Michael. “Chester VFD prepares new business venture.” The Review. Sept. 20, 2010.