This story really ticks me off. I’m beside myself over it.
Texas lawmakers established and collect a tax on property insurance dedicated to funding volunteer firefighting. Much like the federal grants programs, volunteer fire departments submit funding requests for specific equipment or training needs.
Much like the federal grants programs, Texas volunteer department requests are evaluated on their merit and money is awarded accordingly through the administering agency, the Texas Forest Service — or at least that’s how it’s drawn up on paper.
Unlike the federal programs, Texas collects the tax for the sole purpose of helping its 1,505 volunteer fire departments. Consider it a contract lawmakers entered with taxpayers — a sizable portion of which are volunteer firefighters.
For the past two years, Texas lawmakers have reneged on that contract by distributing about 25 percent of the roughly $30 million in tax revenue to volunteer departments. In April, the fund had about $59 million.
This year, they plan to hold back tens of millions of dollars.
The combination of unallocated money and increased expenses to battle wildfires has Texas volunteer departments with their backs to the wall.
This should be unacceptable to taxpayers and firefighters alike. Both should demand that state lawmakers put safeguards in place to prevent this marauding.
Back in the mid 1990s, both houses of Congress were trying to hammer out a long-term transportation-funding bill. The money for road repair comes largely from gasoline and diesel fuel tax paid at the pump.
The problem in Washington, like in Austin, was that Congress would raid the gas-tax fund for other projects and road work would be left underfunded.
To their credit, they created what was called a ‘firewall’ around the gas-tax money. It meant that that money could be spent for no other purpose. The firewall blocked designing hands from getting in the road-money till, much like Internet firewalls block employees and children from porn sites.
Texas lawmakers need to make good on their promise to the residents to fund fire protection. They then need to adopt rules, like the gas-tax firewall, to protect taxpayers from their own lawmakers.