“Every volunteer department that closes will be replaced by a paid, unionized department.”
You sure about that? There are a lot of rural areas where the tax base simply won’t support it. That’s a big reason for volunteer fire departments in the first place.
Once you raise property taxes to the point people lose their homes, you have an additional problem.
It is taxpayers who will take it in the neck if volunteer fire departments are disbanded. Either that, or firehouses will be closed and response times will go up to the point where even more property will be lost and people will die.
You think Obama cares about that?
That’s not a bug. That’s a feature!
Exactly.
In rural areas, either taxes or insurance rates will skyrocket quickly. If they are able to keep a fire department the taxes will vastly increase. If they must close, response times become much greater to another fire department and insurance rates on property go way up. The cost of living in rural areas will become so high many people will no longer be able to afford it. Home prices will naturally plummet and these areas will become even more economically depressed.
As somebody remarked, this is not a bug but a feature. It serves to drive the rural population into the cities where they are more easily controlled.