Obion County Tennessee Clerk Volle Boehms says her office has stopped collecting rural fire subscription fees because she thinks it is illegal. In January the county joined seven communities to establish a countywide fire protection service to residents outside town and city limits.
Obion County agreed to collect and distribute all subscription fees for the municipalities named in the agreement. But Boehms says she is concerned her office is collecting a fee not authorized by state statue.
“Obion County cannot be a third party when there are actually only two parties involved, the county and the cities. I’ve contacted the state concerning this and they say there is not statutory authority for thecounty to collect the subscription fees for the cities And that’s what I’ve based my decision on.”
County Mayor Benny McGuire believes the state statute Boehms cites is vague and shouldn't restrict the county from receiving subscription fees. For now though residents paying their fees are being referred to the individual cities.
