More needs to be said about a proposed overhaul of the mutual aid agreement between Butler Fire Department and the volunteer fire departments throughout Butler County.

At Tuesday night’s Butler City Council meeting, Councilman Kathy Kline said the agreement appears out of balance. It guarantees the city’s paid fire department will respond to calls in other municipalities, but the department is doing so more frequently these days.

“With the diminishing number of volunteer firefighters, it seems the volunteer departments are relying more and more on the city’s paid department,” Kline said, “and that’s not fair to city taxpayers.”

The city’s paid firefighters in 2014 responded to 89 calls outside the city — 83 of which were in Butler Township. During the same period, the city called in support from Butler Township’s volunteer departments for just two of its fire calls.

With an annual budget of $1.7 million in 2014, it comes out to about $573 per call, according to Butler Fire Chief Nick Ban. That’s almost $50,000 worth of fire services for Butler Township, courtesy of city taxpayers, with about $1,200 in fire services returned.

In an admittedly broad sense, many of those same taxpayers pay twice when they shop in the townships’ many large stores — which locate outside the city to lure city residents while avoiding higher municipal property taxes.

Kline and other council members are thinking about billing municipalities for mutual aid runs. That seems like a fair idea.

It also should be noted that complete fire services do more than save lives and property: they also help keep a lid on fire insurance premiums. It’s one of the reasons fire departments strive to conduct regular inspections of businesses.

Butler Township Volunteer Fire Department conducts fire inspections. It collects a fee for the service. The city is currently attempting to expand its fire inspection services within the city, Ban said. It does not charge for inspections. It can levy fines for fire code violations, but the objective is enhanced fire safety, not punishment. The inspections are a learning tool: business owners learn about fire safety, and the firefighters who are certified to conduct the inspections familiarize themselves with the interiors of buildings they might one day enter to battle flames.

If the city council proceeds with a negotiated overhaul of a mutual aid agreement, it should consider fire inspections as a potential income stream.

For the long term, efforts to recruit and retain volunteers, like the one taking place in Cranberry Township, are worthy of public support. Nonetheless, the long-term trend of diminishing volunteer rosters cannot be ignored. In this day and age, it’s difficult to ask someone to commit to hours of professional-level training and service without being paid.

It might be time to talk about consolidation of fire departments into a regional or countywide fire district. Some might say this process is already under way, initiated last year when three volunteer departments merged into one. That merger’s motivation was no surprise: shrinking volunteer rosters.

Good fire protection is not cheap, and the costs go beyond the dollars spent. Our elected officials should be exploring the most economical options, including consolidation, that provide this vital community service.