Quote:
Originally Posted by billw501
Then I don't see the problem with a per service option.
|
There's a problem with that though.
Revenue from city taxes is pretty easy to predict. So the fire department knows they'll be getting X dollars. Since fire departments are non-profit, they use all of that money for personnel, equipment, training, etc.
Now lets say it costs Y dollars to buy, maintain, and staff a truck to run calls for county. In year one, they run enough calls to make Y dollars back. But in year two they don't. They just lost money, and its not just cutting into profit margins. Say the same thing happens in year two or year three, it becomes very possible that the fire department WOULD cease to exist.
The only way to make it work on a long-term basis would be to charge in advance.
- X