Next month, voters will have the fate of the Hermiston and Stanfield fire districts in their hands.
The two districts are asking voters for a consolidation that will dissolve each individual district and bring them together under a new name and new funding structure. Hermiston Fire Chief Scott Stanton said if the move passes, it will streamline processes, reduce response times and provide funding for the next two decades. If the consolidation vote fails, Stanton said it will result in a decreased level of service.
“Our current level of funding doesn’t meet our needs,” Stanton said. “We’re busier per person than places like Portland. We’re running out of people to take the calls.”
The consolidation and new tax rate will help the combined district expand staffing in order to maintain services and reduce response times. In 2012, the Hermiston Fire District responded to 2,950 emergency medical service calls and 469 fire-related calls; the Stanfield Fire Department responded to an additional 240 calls, as well as providing mutual aid.
Stanton said the increase staffing and equipment will reduce that response time.
“The big ticket item if we get this passed is getting a second station staffed,” he said, adding he plans to start staffing a second station – likely Diagonal Road – in January 2016 with other stations to follow.
Those location, such as the Stanfield Fire Station, will remain open and continue to use volunteer firefighters while the new district increases personnel. All current staff of both districts will be employed by the new district.
The additional funding would also help put down pavement at one station – which only has gravel – and outfit firefighters and paramedics with new equipment.
Stanton said the process started about four years ago. It has been two years – September 2012 – since the Hermiston Fire District Board of Directors and Stanfield Fire District Board of Directors voted to officially begin the process of consolidating.
The departments have already started the process of working together, including training together and creating an intergovernmental agreement that combines some services.
The new district would continue those efforts and combine leadership of the fire departments from both Hermiston and Stanfield.
It would be funded with a proposed property tax rate of $2 per $1,000 of appraised value. For residents within the Hermiston city limits, the rate will stay the same because of tax compression. Rural residents within the Hermiston Fire District will see an increase of 80 cents per $1,000, and Stanfield residents will receive a decrease of 6 cents.
Stanton said the districts hope the new rate will meet needs for 20 years.
“Obviously we wouldn’t be putting this up if we didn’t think it was a good deal,” he said. “We did not want to come back in five or 10 years and say we needed more funding. We try to keep our rates down, but we just can’t continue without some better funding.”
Next month’s ballots will have different measures regarding the consolidation:
• Hermiston residents will see a measure to dissolve the Hermiston Fire District
• Stanfield residents will see a measure to dissolve the Stanfield Fire District.
• All residents within the proposed new district will see a measure to form and fund the new district.
• All residents within the proposed new district will see options to elect a five-member board of directors.
If approved, the new district would begin operations July 1, 2015, but Stanton describes the measures are “all or nothing,” which means the district will not be formed unless every measure passes.
“We aren’t going to let one district dissolve but not have the funding for the new district,” he said. “If it doesn’t pass, we’ll stay the same and try to move forward.”
More information about the fire district reformation, including the full report recommending the consolidation, is available at the Hermiston Fire & Emergency Services website.
