By Conrad Easterday, CTCN Editor

Twenty fire departments in Grady County are counting on voters to renew an 1/8-cent sales tax while they decide who will be the next president on Nov. 5.
“Our firemen, we’ve got to get this thing to pass,” said Grady County commissioner Gary Bray.
A yes vote on the proposition will allow firefighters to continue upgrading and maintaining equipment, some of which was in a desperate state when the tax was approved by voters in 2014. Since then, the eight municipal and 12 rural departments have upgraded their firefighting abilities enough to jump four and five points on their Insurance Services Office score, which rates each department on a scale of 1-10, with a 1 ranking being the best. A number of Grady County fire departments were rated 9s before the sales tax went into effect in 2015, said Kim Duke, finance/records officer for Grady County Fire.
Although Grady County residents will pay a slightly higher sales tax to support their firefighters, many will pay less to insurance companies because of the much improved ratings, Duke said.
“If we don’t have this funding, these ISO scores will be out of control,” she said. “Not immediately, but eventually we’ll be back to where we were.”
The eighth-cent sales tax (0.125 cents) is divided equally between the 20 fire departments whether large or small, Duke explained. The funds cannot be allocated to salaries, according to a copy of the ballot.
If the proposition passes, it would remain in effect for another 10 years, just as the original proposition did. The proposition has only been changed to add the phrase, “and any additional lawfully created fire run areas,” to allow for expansion in the northern part of the county.
Additionally, Grady County now has emergency medical responders in their ranks. The EMR designation is one step below EMTs and allows the firefighters to help the injured in ways they couldn’t before.
“We don’t bill for any of our services. That’s all covered by the tax,” Duke said. “We would appreciate a yes vote.”