By Josh Davis
Baltimore Sun
SALISBURY, Md. — A fight over fire and first responders’ funding has deepened a standoff between Salisbury and Wicomico County, with city officials warning the county’s proposed budget could help push Salisbury toward ending collective bargaining rights for city workers.
At issue is how much the county should pay Salisbury for fire and ambulance calls outside city limits. Salisbury officials say the county is not covering its fair share. County officials say the city is already receiving record funding and that critics are misreading the numbers.
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“We are practically begging you all to help us with this fire service agreement,” City Council President April Jackson said during a Tuesday council meeting. “It’s about to cause us to lose our union because of the finances we’re digging in reserve.”
The proposed fiscal 2027 county budget includes $2.37 million for Salisbury fire and ambulance services. That is down from $3.705 million in prior years, but county officials said the higher figure included one-time catch-up funding.
County Executive Julie Giordano, in a prior interview with The Baltimore Sun, said about $1.5 million of the previous amount was an “extra payment” meant to bring the county current after years of paying in arrears.
“Beginning last year, the county transitioned to paying within the current fiscal year rather than in arrears, consistent with how we fund our volunteer companies, which was agreed upon by the city,” Giordano, a Republican, said.
City officials and residents pushed back hard Tuesday.
Joe Schafino, a Salisbury resident, said the year-over-year drop amounts to a 36% cut and argued the city should be reimbursed closer to $5 million, based on call volume.
“Salisbury’s fire and ambulance budget is approximately $15 million, and approximately one-third of the calls are county-related. So, rough back-of-the-envelope math, we should be reimbursed approximately $5 million,” Schafino said on Tuesday. “That needs to be addressed.”
Jackson, who was selected in a non-partisan election, said Salisbury is being asked to serve both city and county residents without enough support.
“I think that it is terrible that the county executive does not think enough of our city to give what is due,” Jackson said. “We want what is owed to us. We deserve it. We serve the county and the city both.”
She tied the funding dispute directly to Salisbury’s budget crisis and a proposal to strip collective bargaining rights from city workers, including police and firefighters.
“I don’t want to get rid of our union … but we don’t have the finances to support it,” she said. “I don’t want to do that, but if that’s what saves us and keeps us from going bankrupt, then that’s what I have to do.”
County Council President John Cannon said the city’s argument leaves out key context.
“The extra $1.5 [million] was an addition that we agreed to give for prior years,” Cannon said. “So, it wasn’t as if we had agreed to a total of $3.7 [million] last year — the amount for last year was a bit over $2 million,” he said. “I think that’s important to clarify, because this is not the first time I’ve heard someone make that comment.”
County funding for Salisbury fire and EMS has continued to climb sharply in recent years. Budget documents show Salisbury received $1 million in fiscal 2024 and $766,292 in fiscal 2023.
The service burden is also substantial. Frampton told the Salisbury City Council on April 27 that the department handled 2,331 EMS calls in city limits and 898 outside city limits during the first quarter of the year. Fire call data was unavailable because of a software issue.
Wicomico County also funds 11 other fire and EMS stations, though Salisbury is by far the largest. The proposed fiscal 2027 budget includes $6.028 million in EMS funding and $3.805 million in fire funding for those agencies, or about $894,000 per station.
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