FRANKLIN — Property value will be the judge on how much more home and business owners will pay for fire insurance in the wake of a recent city fire rating jump.

Fire Chief Chuck Bourgeois told the Franklin City Council Tuesday, property valued at $150,000 or below, will see a minimal increase, while property valued at over $200,000, could see an annual increase of $30 more, which would amount to an extra $2.50 a month.

The reason is that the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana, PIAL, has rated the Franklin Fire Department with a Class 6 rating within the city limits, and a Class 7 rating within the unincorporated areas of St. Mary Parish.

“This is the first hike in nearly 35 years, at least since I have been here,” Bourgeois said.

The chief said the Franklin Fire Department has maintained a Class 5 rating for what seems like forever.

PIAL ranks on a scale of 1 to 10, and when a fire department is ranked with a more favorable grade, for instance, Class 1 being the best, home and business owners benefit from low property insurance rates.

Bourgeois said the department was penalized on manpower, water supply and its 911 system.

Currently, the Franklin Fire Department employs eight full time employees, two of whom are in administration and six on shift.

The department also has 19 volunteer firefighters, but only four are fully trained to fire fighting standards and the others are support and emergency medical responder personnel.

“We do not get any credit for emergency personnel. Thus, the issue we are having is not enough volunteers — they are a dying breed; hard to recruit, and hard to train to national standards,” Bourgeois said.

“Frankly, national standard training takes an enormous amount of time, and a lot of guys just don’t have the time, because they have to work. Things have changed — it’s not like it was in the old days.”

“And, we are not the only department that is facing this. The problem is nationwide. However, without multiple certified trained firefighters, we get penalized.”

Bourgeois said water supply is the next issue.

“The city’s water system is old. And unfortunately, the repairs it needs are extremely expensive. Almost daily, there are calls about water breaks, especially when we try to increase pressure in the water lines.”

The chief explained that when he started 37 years ago, the pressure in the water lines was between 72 and 74 pounds per square inch or psi; now it is 52 psi.

PIAL has also penalized the department, Bourgeois said, because it is not equipped with a Computer Aided Dispatch System, or CAD.

But, he said these units cost close to $275,000.

“We’re contacting other departments in the parish to see if we can get a grant to put one in our parish 911 Center. Without CAD, every fire department in St. Mary Parish will get hit hard.”

Mayor Eugene Foulcard thanked Bourgeois for the update, describing his efforts as the best they can be with the budget he has to work with.