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By Jim Buice

For the Clemmons Courier

CLEMMONS — When it comes to fire service, Gary Styers, the chief in Clemmons, frequently talks about the challenges involving increased staffing needs, call volume and equipment replacement due to rampant growth and demand in the local community.

And with good reason.

Just consider this fast fact: The village of Clemmons experienced a 24 percent increase in call volume from the 2023 calendar year to the corresponding timeframe in 2024.

That’s a big jump, and Styers said he hears the concerns, but then there’s the reality of the need, especially when it may impact each resident and their loved ones at any given time.

“As citizens, we don’t want tax increases,” he said, “but at the end of the day, when someone calls 911, everybody expects service. When you need somebody, you’re going to see somebody within like four to six minutes. And to do that, it is very costly. We try to do our best to keep costs down. The only way that we can provide that service is the tax funding that we get.”

Of course, the budget season is just around the corner. That includes the pending contract with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in June and crunching the numbers to see where things stand with Clemmons.

“Our citizens did see a tax increase (from an 6-cent rate to an 8-cent rate) to help with our needs last year,” Styers said. “Our board makes a very informed decision on where the budget is each year and makes recommendations to the Forsyth County commissioners, and then they set the rate based on what they feel is prudent.

“We asked for 10 cents last year as we tried to use our savings and not do an increase, but it didn’t work, so we had to add budget to take care of the fund balance used, equipment replacement needs and increased staffing. We got two cents, so we had to make some budget cuts to be able to provide the service this year.”

However, this year with the arrival of revaluation, things will be different.

“This year, we have those same needs,” Styers said. “Obviously, with revaluation, there will be no increase. I think we can do it without increasing the rate. If anything, I think we’ll be able to bring the rate down because of the revaluation. I haven’t seen the numbers yet, but we think eight cents or less works for us.”

Styers said that a perpetual contract was established with the county and local municipalities in the late 1980s before a change was made later to have it reviewed every five years.

“It came up last year that the contract was up and that another one was needed,” he said. “There was some back and forth, and the county put together a committee to study fire services and look at effective ways for the county to figure out these issues that we’re facing. Then we had a conversation and said, ‘well, let’s do a temporary or kind of year-to-year contract now.”

Actually, Styers was selected as part of what was called a Blue Ribbon Committee.

“The commissioners asked the Forsyth County Firefighters Association to put some folks on a committee to sit with the commissioners and work through understanding what are the challenges and ways to provide solutions to be placed on the community fire chiefs from different parts of the county,” he said. “It was formed in the fall of last year, and we’ve had a few meetings digging into stuff, but I don’t anticipate anything earth-shattering in the near future. There’s no official timeframe set on anything. We’re still kind of in the discovery of the issues.”

Styers notes that the village of Clemmons itself does not provide fire protection, “so the authorities that work there are Forsyth County, which provides fire protection, and Clemmons is a nonprofit organization. We’re independent of the village, independent of the county and for us to be a fire department, there has to be a contract. 

“The county contracts with us to provide service for the upcoming year. So they set the tax rate to fulfill that request. Obviously, we love to seek input from the citizens of Clemmons to understand any needs. There are lot of things going on with new construction and development that affects us as well with new buildings and neighborhoods.”

Certainly, the Clemmons Fire Department has come a long way since its beginning in 1951, when the fire truck was housed in the lube station at the old Triangle Service Station. The James Street fire station came along in 1983, and that was followed by the addition of the Peace Haven fire station many years later. The department now includes 26 full-time employees, five part-time employees and a volunteer staff of 26.

The Clemmons Fire District covers 29 square miles and serves about 30,000 residents and more than 1,000 commercial properties. The department achieved a coveted Class 2 status during the transition between longtime fire chief Jerry Brooks’ retirement and the arrival of Styers in 2023.

“Keeping the Class 2 rating is a challenge to hold on,” Styers said, “and all the issues are not going to be solved overnight. The year-to-year contract reups in June, so the county will have to make a decision on what they want to do there, too. Ultimately for Clemmons, we need to know about the contract fairly soon. At the end of the day, our protection costs money, and we try to do it as affordable as we can.”