CANTON, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
City leaders in Canton are faced with some Tough Questions: Should senior citizens lose their tax-exempt status to help pay for better fire services? Should the city consolidate its fire services with Cherokee County?
"The question is, how do we improve our fire service down the road for the future? It's going to take a lot of money to do it," said Mayor Gene Hobgood.
Hobgood said Canton has grown from 7,500 to 23,000 residents. The city is operating with only two fire stations.
The Insurance Service Office or ISO, which rates fire protection for cities and counties, will soon evaluate Canton's fire department. The ISO rating which is from 10 to 1 - with 1 being the best - and it directly affects the city's insurance rates.
"We can basically do nothing and maintain our 4 ISO rating for a few more years. We can do very little and maintain that. The question is, do we want to improve our service? I think the answer is, we do want to improve it, but at what cost?" Hobgood said.
One option the city is considering is consolidating fire services with Cherokee County and to allow Cherokee to take the lead role in fire protection.
"And provide us with two new fire stations, two ambulances being stationed within our city and all of our firemen would be cross trained EMTs. We don't have that today," said Hobgood.
Another option is for Canton to create a fire district.
"If we go the route of this fire district the tax rate for fire services will skyrocket over the next few years. If we consolidate with the county we will have the same tax rate as anyone else in the county that has a fire district," Hobgood said.
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