Voters in the Newman Lake Fire District are again being asked to approve an increase in the amount of property taxes they pay for fire and emergency medical services. The November ballot measure comes after voters rejected two other levies in the last 15 months.
Newman Lake Fire Chief Daron Bement says his department is lagging far behind in what it’s allowed to collect in property taxes.
“I think there’s a common misconception that if your assessed value goes up 40% that we also receive 40% more in tax revenue, which is not the case because of the 1% lid that is placed on levies," he said.
That's the state law that requires taxing districts to get voter approval for tax increases of more than 1% a year.
Bement says the department is operating at a loss and needs the extra revenue to allow his hybrid professional-volunteer department to maintain services at the current level.
“We currently employ a full-time fire chief, which is me, a full-time captain and an administrative assistant. We’d like to maintain that weekday coverage that we have with those three positions and then maintain our shift volunteer program that also helps with our day and weekend coverage.”
In 2015, the Newman Lake District collected $1.50 for every thousand dollars of assessed property value, the maximum allowed by law. Now, Bement says, because of inflation and other factors, it’s only collecting 79 cents. He says the department’s budget is running in the red.
The voters don't seem to be eager to give the district more money. In August 2022, 60% of voters said no to a request to increase the levy back to $1.50. A year later, 59 of voters said no to $1.40. This time the district is asking for $1.30.
Levy opponent Jerry LeGrand says the rural department's budget has rapidly increased the last two years, since Bement took over as chief. He says the department is spending too much money operating as a hybrid professional-volunteer unit, when it should be just fine as a volunteer unit. He says Newman Lake property owners can’t afford the extra.
“We don’t have any retail or any kind of extra tax coming in to support a full-time fire department. It’s just not feasible here in a rural community," LeGrand said.
Bement says, if this ballot measure doesn’t pass, he may have to lay off one or two staff members and potentially close one of the department’s two fire stations.
