Local officials are still unsure about the ramifications of the Budget Transparency and Simplification Act passed into Mississippi law in the 2016 legislative session, and county tax payers could get stiffed for the fund shortage to Lincoln County volunteer fire departments it could cause.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Clifford Galey, at the last regular meeting with the Board of Supervisors, said VFDs received $146,000 in the 2016 budget, and it was still unclear if the departments would continue to receive that money after Senate Bill 2362 took effect.

Galey said until things change for certain, he will be requesting an increase in the millage rate for volunteer fire departments. Currently, VFDs receive one mill from local property taxes, but Galey said in order to cover the loss in revenue from fire insurance rebates, the departments would need two million from the county.

“I addressed it a bit with our state fire coordinator, and he had some of the same concerns I had, and we still don’t know the outcome of it,” Galey said.

Recently, the office of Attorney General Jim Hood released an official opinion on the matter at the request of Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney.

“SB 2362 suffers from the peculiar infirmity in that it never attempts to delineate, or as referenced in your letter, to ‘list’ the funds to which it applies,” the document reads.

It went on to say that executive agencies and the courts will be left to determine which funds fall under the “non-specific category” of funds to be swept into the general fund.

“It is our opinion that had the Legislature intended to abolish the Fire Rebate Funds, such abolishment should have been expressly done,” it said.

While the Attorney General’s office opined that Fire Rebate Funds are not abolished in SB 2362, Galey said he remains unconvinced.

“The opinion apparently says those forms are not included, but some of the legislators still think it is,” he said.

District  39 Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, said the bill was not intended to defund essential services, but she did concede that a clarification in the language may be required in the next legislative session.

“As with new change, there have been some details to work through,” Doty said. “Our fire departments provide such valuable service to our community, and I will always fight to make sure they are funded.”