FATE — An interlocal agreement for fire protection services in the unincorporated areas of Rockwall County is drawing some heat from the Fate City Council.

According to Fate City Councilman John Stacy, Fate Fire Rescue answers more county calls than any of the three other fire departments in the county. The complaint, he said, is that the City of Fate is compensated less than any of the three other cities.

The Fate City Council tabled action on the proposed agreement during a special meeting on Sept. 24.

The next night, Stacy, accompanied by Mayor Bill Broderick, stood before the city council in Royse City.

“We have tabled the contract from the county, so Fate did not accept, nor reject, the county’s agreement to give us $48,000 to service our area,” Stacy told the city council. “I just wanted to come here to address y’all, to let you know we’re bleeding over this contract. We’re losing at least $60,000 to $70,000 servicing the county.”

At the end of his three-minute presentation, Stacy said he would like to see a subcommittee formed that would consist of two or three representatives from each city in the county.

The subcommittee, he said, would “address the commissioners court the next time a budget comes around so that we can actually be at the table and talk to them about how we can more fairly do this.”

Stacy said City of Fate officials have asked to meet with commissioners and let them “explain how they’re divvying this money, and they refused to talk to us both this year and last year. So, we’re trying to kind of light a fire under them, so to speak, to get them to come to the table.”

Now, he said, Fate Fire Rescue is making 168 calls and Royse City is making 117. Between the two other cities — Heath and Rockwall — “it’s barely 100.”

He said Fate makes $268 a call and Royse City makes about $500 per call. Heath, he added, makes about $3,200 per call and Rockwall makes $1,700.

Stacy said it makes “absolutely no sense” how the county determines “who gets what and how much money each city gets.

“Between Royse City and Fate, we are the county’s fire department,” Stacy said, adding that it’s “so unfair” that county officials won’t talk to City of Fate officials and explain how the rate of compensation is determined. Therefore, he said, “the City of Fate said, ‘we’re not going to do it (approve the agreement) right now.’ If they’re not going to talk to us, we’re not going to vote it in.”

Stacy said he wanted Royse City officials to understand that he was not trying to change how fire departments operate in the county or to affect mutual aid agreements involving fire departments in the county.

“We just want the county to come to the table if they want us to do this,” he said. “We just can’t keep losing money on this contract.”

Stacy made his comments during a time set aside for residents to discuss items not on the agenda. The agenda states that by law, no action or discussion may be taken on the items.

However, immediately after Stacy’s presentation, City Councilman Bill Bell asked City Manager Carl Alsabrook to place the topic on the agenda for the city’s council’s next meeting on Oct. 9.

While working on his first budget as county judge two years ago, Jerry Hogan said he questioned how the payment figures in the agreement were determined. The only explanation he received, Hogan said, was that it had always been done that way.

While working on the 2012-13 county budget, Hogan said, all cities were told that there would be no reduction in funding. Hogan said he added that he wanted to meet with them before the next budget and determine how the rate of compensation should be determined — on a per call basis, type of call or distance traveled.

Hogan said he heard no opposition to that plan and did not know there was an issue involving the City of Fate until Sept 26.

After hearing about the City of Fate’s concerns, Hogan said, he scheduled a meeting for County Commissioners David Magness and Lorie Grinnan to meet with city managers and fire chiefs of the cities in the county.A meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

Fate City Manager Philip Rodriguez said Fate firefighters will continue answering calls in the county even though the current contract expired Sept. 30. He said the city will continue efforts to resolve the issue.