Fire District Proposes Levy For ‘97

Spokane Valley Fire District 1 says it needs money for vehicles and buildings.

So the district will ask voters to approve a $5.7 million levy for 1997, or $1.49 per $1,000 of assessed property, on Feb. 6. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $149.

Money from the levy will fund more than half of Valley Fire’s projected $10.5 million budget for 1997, said assistant chief Karl Bold.

The district will replace a paramedic truck, a training van and a battalion chief’s car.

The current paramedic truck, which was purchased in 1991, will have close to 70,000 miles on it by the time it is replaced, Bold said.

Fixing the aging truck would be costly and force the district to buy two in 1998, Bold said. Administrators did not want to risk using it as one of the district’s two main squad trucks only to have it break down.

Instead, the truck will be used as a reserve. The current reserve truck will be sold, Bold said.

“We’ve been really fiscally sound in all of our equipment, but you want the reliability,” Bold said.

Valley Fire will also set aside $250,000 from the 1997 levy for a $500,000 ladder truck it plans to purchase in 1998.

And some of the stations, including Station No. 1, need to be remodelled, Bold said.

, DataTimes