Fire District Seeks Approval Of Special Levy

Spokane Valley Fire District No. 1 will ask voters on Tuesday to approve a $6.325 million special levy.

The cost to individual residents will be $1.49 per $1,000 or assessed property value, or $149 on a $100,000 home.

That figure is consistent with previous levy amounts, said Karl Bold, Valley Fire assistant chief.

“We’ve stayed at that same amount for about five years now,” Bold said.

The money will be part of Valley Fire’s 1998 operating budget, which includes the purchase of a new fire truck equipped with a 100-foot mechanical ladder. Buying the new truck will cost Valley Fire about $480,000.

The ladder truck now in service, which operates out of Station No. 1, 10319 E. Sprague, was purchased in 1972 and has 94,000 miles. Valley Fire plans to use it as a reserve truck after the new one is purchased, Bold said.

Valley Fire officials have projected an $11 million budget for 1998. The remainder of the levy money will be used for maintenance and operation of the district, Bold said.

The district also is considering buying a fire truck specially equipped to fight wildfires, Bold said.

, DataTimes