Fire District 6 Commissioner Sam Heller, right, makes a point to fellow Commissioner John Lindsey on Thursday (Aug. 13) at a public meeting about the district’s business plan.
District leaders eye possible tax measure in 2027
Commissioners for Okanogan County Fire District 6 asked some big questions at a four-hour special meeting on Thursday (Aug. 13), as they started preparing a business plan with an eye toward a possible property tax ballot measure in 2027:
What capacity do we currently have to suppress fire? What goals should we set for our responses to structure fires, and what should our wildfire response look like?
And perhaps most importantly, what does the public expect from us, and how much more will that cost?
The board of commissioners managed to pencil in some rough goals during their afternoon-long meeting, which was a slog at times — what Commissioner John Lindsey called the necessary but often tedious “sausage-making” of the district.
More work is needed to get to the bottom line: How much of a property tax hike the commissioners should ask voters to approve, if they even decide to put a measure on the ballot.
This year, the fire district is collecting 49 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, which is expected to bring in $1.49 million. State law allows fire districts to collect up to $1.50 per $1,000.
The board will likely hold another special meeting to continue developing its business plan, sometime after its next regular monthly meeting on Sept. 14.
The commissioners more or less agreed on some goals. One is to have the capacity to respond to two structure fires simultaneously (something that practically never happens) within 10 minutes. Another is to defend 12 structures simultaneously during a wildland fire, with an expected turnout time of 40 minutes.
Commissioners also agreed the district’s current volunteer count of 41 wouldn’t meet these goals, asserting they would need 80 or even 120 volunteers. (They couldn’t find a number everyone was happy with.)
The meeting was tense at times, but Lindsey suggested the frustration in the room was a product of some long overdue sausage-making.
“We’re trying to have conversations that should have been had the last 10 freaking years, but they haven’t, so we’re having to do it now,” Lindsey said. “So everybody’s got to be patient, including me.”
Commissioner Miles Milliken, as the board chair, said he would like to put more structure into the board’s next special meeting devoted to the business plan, to be more efficient. He also wanted to impose a deadline for commissioners to complete the plan. They intend to present it to community members for their review and feedback before a tax increase ever goes to the ballot.
In an interview earlier this year, Milliken said he would like to consider the tax increase, referred to as a “levy lid lift,” for the August 2027 ballot.
“We may not need a levy lid lift if residents are satisfied” with the fire district’s capabilities, Milliken said in an interview a few days after last week’s meeting, although he did mention one catch: The career firefighters in the department need raises.
