Fire District Levy Seeks $6.7 Million

Valley residents will vote next week on a $6.785 million Valley Fire District levy for 1999.

The levy represents just over half of the district’s maintenance and operations budget for the year. The rest of the needed funding will come from regular property taxes.

The levy includes money for a $640,000 pumper/ladder truck to replace the district’s 26-year-old ladder truck, which had more than 100,000 miles on it.

That truck will join a new $300,000 pumper truck the district will buy this year, using money from the 1998 levy voters passed in 1996.

If approved, the levy will cost homeowners $1.42 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $142 for a $100,000 home. That rate has actually decreased in recent years. The 1998 levy cost property owners $1.49 per of assessed value. Seven years ago, the 1991 levy cost $1.46 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Levy supporters, including the political action committee Citizens for Fire Protection, say the district has used tax money wisely over the years to improve Valley fire protection.

So far this decade, the district has built a new fire station and moved two existing stations to better serve the growing population, supporters said. It has doubled paramedic service and updated firefighting equipment.

This year, the district plans to purchase two new paramedic vehicles. It also will train firefighter to deal with hazardous waste situations and confined space rescues.

Just one Valley Fire District special levy has failed in the last two decades. Fire levies require 60 percent approval for passage. The 1998 special levy failed with a 59 percent yes vote in September of 1996. Voters passed it two months later with 68 percent approval.

, DataTimes