The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
33°F
Current Conditions
Mist
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Rockford, Spangle ask for levies for emergency services

Capt. Charles Hartman with the Spokane County Fire District 3 Station 36 arrives to put out a backhoe fire at the town of Spangle’s wastewater treatment plant on Aug. 30, 2024. Spangle is asking voters in the November election for levies to pay for fire and police services. (COLIN MULVANY)
By Nina Culver For The Spokesman-Review

The annual fire and police levies are once again on the ballot in the small southern Spokane County towns of Rockford and Spangle. The towns typically run one-year levies each year to pay for services or for contracts to provide needed emergency services that they can’t afford without the taxes.

While the amount collected in each levy is small, it’s a key funding source in towns with extremely small annual budgets. Residents usually approve the levies by a healthy margin.

Rockford Proposition 1

This one-year fire protection levy, which would replace an expiring levy, would collect $36,075 in 2026 to provide funding for the town’s fire department. The levy rate is an estimated 51 cents per $1,000 in assessed home value, the same rate requested for 2025.

The money would pay for capital facilities expenses to maintain emergency vehicles and to “retain properly trained personnel equipped with proper firefighting equipment,” according to a resolution approved by the town council.

Spangle Proposition 1

Spangle contracts with Spokane County Fire District 3 for fire protection service and this one-year levy would replace an expiring levy. The estimated 2026 levy rate is $1.40 per $1,000 in assessed home value, which would collect an estimated $49,000. This rate is the same as the levy rate approved by voters for 2025.

No other funding is available to pay for the contract and it must come from a source other than the town’s general fund, according to an ordinance passed by the town council.

Spangle Proposition 2

Spangle also has a contract for law enforcement services, this one with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. This one-year levy, which also replaces an expiring levy, would collect an estimated $1.19 per $1,000 in assessed home value to collect $28,000 in 2026.

The city’s general fund is “inadequate” to pay for the contract and the funding must come from another source, according to an ordinance approved by the town council.

Ballots for the Nov. 4 general election have already been mailed. They must be postmarked by Nov. 4 or returned to a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day. There are drop boxes located at the Rockford Town Hall, 20 W. Emma St., and the Spangle Town Hall, 115 W. Second St.