Letter to the editor: Sumter County volunteer firefighters need your help

In November, we will be asked to cast a vote on the Capital Projects Sales Tax Referendum. Before you cast your vote, please consider that your county volunteer firefighters need your YES vote.

Our fire engines and tankers are very old and in need of replacing. There are actually fire trucks in service that are 38 years old. Parts for repair are impossible to find. The maintenance cost of this very old fleet is astronomical.

We need your YES vote.

Consider this … Have you or your family ever needed to dial 911 for emergency assistance? Have you ever given any thought to what condition the fire trucks are in that would be responding to your emergency?

I submit that there may be a thing or two on the penny list that might not sit well with everyone, but there are things on the list that your county fire and EMS departments desperately need.

I am told that a little over 1/3 of the local sales tax will be paid by people who live outside Sumter County but travel through or work in Sumter. The remainder is paid by residents. Project funding is also supplemented by state and federal allocations, as well as grants. Another benefit of a capital penny tax is that it is based solely on your spending and does not impact any one family or resident as much as alternative funding.

This is just one item on the penny project list. There are many projects on this list that will improve life in all areas of the county.

I am asking that, before you vote, please do some research. Read the project list. Call your government officials, ask questions.

All across this county, volunteer firefighters are responding to your 911 calls for help all day and all night, seven days a week!

Now, we need your help. We need your YES vote.

REV. DAVID BAGWELL JR.

Volunteer fire captain, Dalzell

Firehouse

Rembert