Texas Fire World
May-June, 2005

A new calculator tool has been developed by the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC). The Cost Savings Calculator allows volunteer and combination fire departments to enter information about their departments to determine an overall dollar value for the services provided to their community. The information derived from the use of the calculator can assist departments in educating legislative bodies and their communities about the value of their services. It can be downloaded free at www.nvfc.org. To establish a service value, this user-friendly program allows departments to enter different variables such as: - Geographic area of service, plus population and number of households served - Number of fire stations and amount and type of apparatus - Annual departmental operating expenses - Active volunteers ( ground operations, fundraising, administrative categories) - Average starting salary plus benefits that paid personnel would earn in the local market. A report using the calculator in 2004 found that taxpayers would be paying more than $37 billion annually if all volunteers were replaced by career staff members. The calculator can be useful to departments seeking funding for equipment and programs as well as for community recognition. A Power Point® presentation is also available free for download at the NVFC website. Departments can enter information derived from the calculator in the template to create a professional presentation. For more information on the Cost Savings Calculator and Power Point® template or any other programs made available by NVFC, visit www.nvfc.org or call 1-888-ASK-NVFC.