With the new budget that took effect July 1, the county eliminated individual fire tax districts and created a 2-cent countywide fire tax. Each fire district will get more this year than last year.

The Crawford Fire District, which includes the Crawford Fire Department, will get about $10,000 more this year with a budget of $197,972, according to figures provided by the county. The Fruitville District, which includes the Carova and Knotts Island fire departments, will get $200,624, about $7,000 more than last year. The Moyock Fire District will get $189,231, about $16,000 more than last year.

The Poplar Branch District, which includes the Lower Currituck and Corolla fire departments, will get $756,958, about $36,000 more than last year. The county sets aside about $640,000 toward the purchase of fire trucks.

Fire department finances will be handled by the county rather than a bookkeeper at each station. Also new is the requirement that each department must fill out a purchase order to buy anything over $100, a sticking point for some fire-fighting volunteers. But every department in the county has to do that already, including the full-time emergency medical personnel who are county employees and work out of the fire stations with essentially the same equipment, said Diane Sawyer, spokeswoman for Currituck County.

Allegations of misuse of public money that led to an ongoing investigation into the Lower Currituck Fire Department by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Sheriff’s Office were a major reason the county took over department finances, Sawyer said.

The county also wants accountability, she said. Both old and new contracts call for annual audits, but the rule has not been enforced, Sawyer said. The county has demanded that the Corolla Fire Department turn in its financial records, which haven’t been audited in six years, Sawyer said. The Corolla volunteers plan to comply soon, Cherry said. The other fire departments have turned in financial records, Sawyer said.