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AlabamaHB3252025 Regular SessionHouseWALLET

Volunteer Fire Departments; provide means to establish and administer fire districts

Sponsored By: Ernie Yarbrough (Republican)

Enacted

Lawrence County

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

8 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 2 costs, 4 mixed.

Fire fee exemptions protect qualifying properties

Beginning October 1, 2025, property-tax exemptions must be recognized when deciding whether the Lawrence County fire fee is due. Principal homes qualify when their owners have a property-tax exemption for permanent total disability. Principal homes also qualify for owners age 65 or older with net taxable income of $12,000 or less. Churches, schools, hospitals, senior care facilities, and structures used for fire protection or emergency medical services are exempt. Exemptions also cover structures primarily used for farming, government-occupied structures, Alabama National Guard property, and unimproved timberland. Qualifying fraternal, veterans, and community-service lodges are also exempt.

Lawrence County can form fire districts

Beginning October 1, 2025, qualifying Lawrence County volunteer departments can form public fire districts with county approval. Departments need Alabama Forestry Commission certification and good standing in the Lawrence County Firefighters and Rapid Responders Association. The association prepares a written plan for district governance, money management, monitoring, and closure, and recommends incorporation requests. Incorporation requires a county resolution and filing a certificate with the probate judge. Boundaries generally follow the department's October 1, 2025, emergency-dispatch service area. Municipal territory requires a municipal request and approval from both the county and district. Districts provide fire protection and related emergency response, rather than primarily policing or emergency medical services. They can own property, contract, borrow, pledge revenue or property, buy insurance, and arrange mutual aid, subject to association limits. Extra money can go into specified U.S. or Alabama bonds or federally insured accounts. Chiefs of districts created under this law must assist the Alabama State Fire Marshal when asked.

Voters control new Lawrence County fire fees

Lawrence County fire districts can charge an annual fee after a majority of qualified voters living in the district approves it. The initial proposal cannot exceed $100 per dwelling or commercial building, with the same base rate for both. Each housing unit counts separately, including manufactured homes with permanent utility connections. Each separately licensed business in a shared building faces a separate fee, but the same place cannot be charged twice. A single-entity commercial or industrial building of at least 50,000 square feet can face a multiple of the base fee. That larger charge requires approval of the base fee. Approved rates start the following October 1. Fees are special assessments, not taxes, and are collected with property taxes or vehicle registration for motor-vehicle dwellings. County-approved late fees can apply after more than 90 days overdue; debt collection can add costs and attorney fees. An approved levy cannot face another vote for five years; a rejected levy must wait two years.

County and districts fund fire fee votes

Lawrence County's general fund pays advertising and election costs for the first fire fee vote. For later fee elections, the county and district each pay half. The probate judge calls elections at the county commission's request. Votes can coincide with general elections; special elections occur 30 to 90 days after the election order. Notice must appear on the county website for at least 30 days and at four public district buildings. Newspaper notices run three weeks in a row, with the last publication at least 10 days before voting.

Existing fire districts keep powers and fees

Fire districts already operating on October 1, 2025, keep their powers and obligations. Their founding documents, bylaws, contracts, and debts remain in place. Existing district annual fire fees continue, and the county fire services fee under the 1993 law remains unchanged. The law does not state those existing fee amounts. It also repeals the 1992 fire-fee act, which never received its required constitutional ratification. That repeal does not establish household savings or show that anyone paid the older fee.

Local members elect fire district boards

The law sets default fire district board rules, which the county association can replace with different requirements. The incorporating department's directors serve the first year. Afterward, eligible members nominate directors and elect them by secret ballot to an odd-numbered board with at least three members. Members must have a dwelling or business in the district and cannot be behind on an assessed fire fee. Directors must be over 21, qualified Lawrence County voters, and district residents. Regular terms last four years; the first elected terms are staggered at two, three, and four years. Board appointees fill vacancies until an election at the next meeting for the remaining term. Directors serve without pay but can receive expense reimbursement.

Fire district money faces spending safeguards

District money must support fire protection and emergency response, including equipment, training, fuel, and insurance. Food, fundraising expenses, and dress uniforms are prohibited. Salaries require at least three years since incorporation and county association certification of financial stability. Collections initially enter the county general fund and must reach the county association within 30 days. The association divides half equally among eligible departments and half by each district's share of county dwelling and commercial-building owners. It can set transfer and accounting rules and deduct administrative costs. The revenue commissioner must also distribute collected fire fees to the district within 30 days after the collection period ends. Districts must follow volunteer-department financial guidelines and association accounting standards, using an October 1–September 30 fiscal year. Financial reports are due to the county commission by December 1 and must show receipts, spending, uncommitted money, and committed but unspent money. At least three association directors perform audits; reports and audit results appear online for 60 days and at four public buildings. Before a fee-change election, districts present a balance sheet and financial forecast 60 to 30 days before voting. Those documents and any signed audit must be posted online and at four public buildings for at least 30 days. Closure requires the association's process, a board request, association approval, and a county resolution. Remaining assets go to the association for redistribution to eligible service providers within 90 days. Current-year assessments stop upon closure unless a successor district forms within 60 days.

Fire districts gain tax and liability protections

Lawrence County fire districts are exempt from specified local taxes, including license, utility, and excise taxes. They also avoid incorporation and recording charges; these are district exemptions, not household tax breaks. Districts receive protection from certain injury or damage claims arising from fire and emergency work, only where Alabama law provides immunity. Beginning October 1, 2025, fire district firefighters are not county employees or agents, including in districts formed before this law. County commissioners and county employees are not personally or officially liable for actions by people affiliated with fire districts.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Ernie Yarbrough

    Republican • House

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 137 • No: 0

Senate vote • 4/9/2025

Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 586

Yes: 26 • No: 0

Senate vote • 4/9/2025

Third Reading in Second House

Yes: 26 • No: 0

House vote • 3/18/2025

Third Reading in House of Origin

Yes: 53 • No: 0 • Other: 50

House vote • 3/18/2025

Motion to Adopt - Adopted Roll Call 392

Yes: 28 • No: 0 • Other: 74

House vote • 3/18/2025

Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass as Amended - Adopted Roll Call 393

Yes: 4 • No: 0 • Other: 95

Actions Timeline

  1. Enacted

    4/17/2025House

  2. Ready to Enroll

    4/10/2025House

  3. Enrolled

    4/10/2025House

  4. Signature Requested

    4/10/2025Senate

  5. Delivered to Governor

    4/10/2025House

  6. Third Reading in Second House

    4/9/2025Senate

  7. Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 586

    4/9/2025Senate

  8. Reported Out of Committee Second House

    4/8/2025Senate

  9. Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

    4/8/2025Senate

  10. Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on Local Legislation

    3/19/2025Senate

  11. Pending Committee Action in Second House

    3/19/2025Senate

  12. Third Reading in House of Origin

    3/18/2025House

  13. Local Legislation Engrossed Substitute Offered

    3/18/2025House

  14. Motion to Adopt - Adopted Roll Call 392

    3/18/2025House

  15. Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass as Amended - Adopted Roll Call 393

    3/18/2025House

  16. Engrossed

    3/18/2025House

  17. Local Legislation 1st Amendment

    3/5/2025House

  18. Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

    3/5/2025House

  19. Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

    3/5/2025House

  20. Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Local Legislation

    2/20/2025House

  21. Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

    2/20/2025House

Bill Text

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