Fire board responds to request
A Fire District 2 board representative has responded to Jennings Mayor Henry Guinn’s call for renegotiations of a joint service agreement between the agency and the city.
The fire district, which provides fire protection for residents and businesses outside of the city from the western limits of La. 99 to the Mermentau River in the east, has been engaged in a joint service agreement with the city since the 1970’s. This agreement outlines that the Jennings Fire Department (JFD) provide manpower and resources to the fire district in exchange for the use of its pumper fire truck and $20,000 a year.
Earlier this month, Guinn called for renegotiations of the contract, saying that the agreement was unfair to Jennings taxpayers.
“We all have to help each other but my responsibility to this city is to protect the taxpayer’s money; this agreement doesn’t do that,” Guinn said. “They were paying us $25,000 20 years ago, five thousand more than they’re paying us today. How did they pay us more in 1989 with a smaller population and fewer homes to offer services to?”
In talks with the fire district, Guinn asked for the agency to split the ad valorem taxes it collects, around $500,000 annually, be split evenly between the district and the city of Jennings.
But Guinn’s take on the issue doesn’t tell the full story of the benefits the city of Jennings receives from the agreement, said Fire District 2 Secretary and Treasurer Randy Davis.
"As time draws near to the end of the present joint service agreement between the two parties, then and only then will negotiations begin.”
– Fire District 2 Secretary and Treasurer Randy Davis
“Basically, the terms of the agreement are this: Fire District 2 will pay the city of Jennings $20,000 per year and allows Jennings the continued use of a pumper fire truck, with the current value of approximately $125,000,” Davis said. “In exchange, both parties will support each other in fire response.”
According to Davis’ records of fire calls in Jennings responded to by Fire District 2 volunteer firefighters, and fire calls within the district responded to by firefighters of JFD, Davis said the city has received more support in manpower than the district has likewise received.
“According to our records in 2016, District 2 responded to Jennings calls with 271 personnel over the course of that year, while Jennings responded to our calls in the district with 88 personnel,” he said. “In 2017, we sent 152 firefighters to Jennings and they sent 98 to us on calls.”
Davis said the disparity of manpower support between the two districts is enough to make the service agreement fair for both parties, saying the board will not even consider renegotiatiating the contract until it is set to expire in 2021.
“When I was first appointed to the fire board, I remember how excited the then-Jennings fire chief Tommy Deshotel was to continue this service agreement,” he said. “It benefited both parties and especially the people of Jennings. With the investment in this agreement and the updated fire equipment we provide, the fire rating of both parties dropped. As time draws near to the end of the present joint service agreement between the two parties, then and only then will negotiations begin.”