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Surfside Beach leaders are in discussions about turning the town's fire department over to Horry County after concerns were raised about the town's ability to safely fight fires.

During the recent Surfside Beach Town Council鈥檚 budget retreat, new fire chief David Nelson said with the current staffing, his department could not safely fight fires in the town.

He said they had a firefighter who would drive the truck and one who would pull the hoses and they would wait until Horry County firefighters arrived to put out the fire.

Now, it's possible Horry County may do more than just show up like the cavalry.

At Thursday鈥檚 workshop, the Surfside council plans to discuss turning over the entire fire department to Horry County.

Town administrator Gerald Vincent said he and mayor Rob Krouse met with Horry County officials about consolidating the town鈥檚 fire department to be under control of the county.

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Surfside Beach budget woes impact fire department

• By Tom O'Dare tom.odare@myhorrynews.com

Vincent said the county has plans to build a new fire station in the Prestwick area and this would benefit both the town and the county.

At the budget retreat, Nelson was told his request for seven positions for the fire department were denied because of budget restraints.

Vincent said the town is starting next year鈥檚 budget with a $1.8 million deficit, much of which is attributed to the fire department. He said turning over the department to the county would save the town lots of revenue and would benefit the department鈥檚 employees.

Finance director Melanie Gruber said the town has the capacity to raise the millage rate by 10 mils this year. Each mil in the town brings in approximately $84,000, which would pay for one firefighter.

鈥淲e could up the millage by 10 mils to bring in more firefighters but it鈥檚 not a good thing to spend all of the mils on one department and that鈥檚 probably not enough,鈥� Vincent said. 鈥淗aving the county take over the department will mean instead of having two at a fire, we would have at least six. It would also mean better pay and benefits for our employees.鈥�

Vincent said if the town doesn鈥檛 make the change, the county will build its new station at Prestwick and take its ambulance from Surfside Beach to the new location.

鈥淭his could mean a drop in our ISO rating of three or more points,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat means higher insurance rates for everyone in town.鈥�

Vincent said the county discussed several options including possibly buying the town鈥檚 fire department and equipment. He said they legally would probably have to set up a separate tax district similar to the one the county has with the Garden City-Murrells Inlet district.

鈥淭hey are going to make a presentation at the Thursday morning workshop and we鈥檒l go from there,鈥� Vincent said.

Assistant county administrator Randy Webster said the town had contacted the county about making an offer for the fire department. He said the move would be less expensive than building and equipping a new station at Prestwick.

鈥淲e鈥檒l see Thursday,鈥� he said.

According to state law, the town must pass an ordinance to sell municipal property.

The workshop is at 10 a.m. Thursday in the regular council chambers.