Fire Districts Breathe Easier

Fire levies for two Valley fire districts and the town of Rockford passed comfortably this week.

Spokane Valley Fire District, Fire District 9 and Rockford all had special levies before voters on Tuesday. All three of the levies were for maintenance and emergency medical services and made up a significant part of the districts’ budgets.

Voters pased Valley Fire’s $8.3 million levy with 67.9 percent approval. Valey Fire serves most of the urban Spokane Valley.

The $2.5 million Fire District 9 levy passed with 68.7 percent support. Fire District 9 services Northwood and Pleasant Prairie, along with much of the suburban area northeast of the city of Spokane.

The town of Rockford passed its four-year, $60,000 levy with 68.3 percent.

All districts have had strong support from voters in past elections. Dave Lobdell, assistant chief for Valley Fire, didn’t expect this election to be any different.

“We usually have a high degree of support, which keeps us from being on pins and needles,” he said.

Still, the Valley Fire election results were the first thing he checked from his home computer on Wednesday morning.

“The special levy is a way of life for us,” he said. “The impact of not passing one would be staggering to the service we provide.”

Valley Fire and District 9 rely on the levies for about half of their annual budgets. The districts get the rest of the funding through regular property taxes.

Valley Fire has said it will use the levy money to buy a new pumper truck in 2002 as well as buy a second set of turnouts for firefighters.

The results of the election won’t be official until all absentee ballots have been counted. The elections office has said that outstanding absentee ballots are not likely to affect the outcomes of any of the three levies.