In less than two months, Umatilla voters will take a look at their ballots and see a proposed tax levy from the Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District.
If approved, the levy would help purchase or refurbish five fire trucks, provide new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) sets and allow for fire station improvements to meet insurance codes.
“We’re trying to keep up with both day-to-day needs and looking down the road,” Fire Board Chairman Fred Sheely said. “These are things we need.”
A capital improvement local option levy is a property tax focused on specific purchases. The 10-year levy would increase taxes for homeowners in the Umatilla Rural Fire Protection district by 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. In other words, someone with a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $65 a year in taxes.
The levy would be in addition to the fire district’s current tax rate of 85 cents per $1,000 of assessed property. That rate has not increased in 25 years.
Fire Chief Mike Roxbury addressed a question he is commonly asked: Wouldn’t consolidation with Hermiston and Stanfield fire departments have eliminated this issue?
“The short answer is no,” he said.
Hermiston and Stanfield are proposing to consolidate their fire departments. The new rate would be $2 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is 50 cents higher than Umatilla’s rate – including both the base rate and the additional levy.
Roxbury said the total cost for the needed equipment is about $3.2 million and the levy is expected to raise $1.8 million over the next 10 years, leaving a shortfall of $1.3 million. The chief said the district considered asking for a larger tax levy but did not because of the burden on the voters.
“Even if we’re successful, we’re going to come up short, but the board of directors was adamant that we needed to hold the line at 65 and find other ways to make that up,” he said. “While we’re asking for a lot … it’s nowhere near what we need, and we’re going to find other ways.”
Among the most expensive purchases are a replacement of a ladder truck, a water tender, and a heavy rescue truck. One of the vehicles – the water tender, which carries a water tank to areas without fire hydrants – is a 1977 model, and the heavy rescue truck is from 1979.
“Those are the things we absolutely need to find a way to get done over the next 10 years,” Roxbury said. “There’s nothing in here that’s not every day basic firefighter gear.”
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