Skagafjörður seeks mileage-charge exemption for fire engines

Skagafjörður’s municipal council wants fire engines to be exempt from the mileage charge, like rescue vehicles, mbl.is reports. The request appears in the municipality’s comments on draft amendments to the law on the charge, prepared by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

The council says fire services perform a legally mandated emergency and safety role, and that driving fire engines is not optional commercial activity. In geographically extensive municipalities, responders often have to travel long distances to reach emergencies, making the charge a significant added cost for legally required civil protection services.

“We are naturally looking for ways to run this basic service in rural areas as efficiently as possible, and that is why this mileage charge affects us very badly,” Skagafjörður Municipal Manager Magnús Barðdal Reynisson said.

He said the municipality has long distances between communities and must travel far to serve all its residents. In his view, state funding arrangements and requirements do not account for those distances, even though providing the same services costs more than in municipalities with just one population centre.

The municipal council also welcomed several changes in the draft, including clearer exemptions for rescue-team vehicles and agricultural tractors.