Local fire officials address budget challenges, explore future solutions

Chief sites, growth, inflation and fire district levy failure as among major challenges

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Leaders of Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS gathered with members of the public and other officials July 23 in Sagle to discuss the current status of the district and workshop plans to keep the fire service sustainable and effective into the future.

The discussion came about two months after voters rejected a slate of levies in the May 20 election that would have funded a range of fire service needs — from staffing to equipment — in the Northside, Sagle and Westside districts.

“I would just say it’s a question that we posed to the community on what they wanted from their fire service, and if they wanted to enhance that during that period,” said Selkirk Fire Chief Jeff Armstrong, who oversees all three districts.

“I think we didn’t connect with as many in the community as we would like to,” he added, “and a lot of that had to do with our ground game. A lot of that had to do with our timeline. … Sometimes folks just drive past the fire station and go, ‘There’s firemen there,’ and just keep on going, and they don’t really realize what goes on in the community.”

If approved, the Northside Fire District levy would have raised an additional $1.2 million per year on a permanent basis, amounting to a tax of $61 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. In Sagle, the fire district asked for a permanent increase for a total override of $750,000, resulting in a tax increase to $122 per year per $100,000 of taxable value. Likewise, Westside sought to raise an additional $810,358, also carrying a total tax burden of $122 per year per $100,000.

All three levies were intended to support recruitment and retention of firefighters; fuller staffing of area fire stations; and equipment, maintenance and general operations.

Northside’s levy was defeated 1,059 to 559 — or 65.45% to 34.55% — while Sagle’s went down 1,253 against and 741 in favor, for a margin of 62.84% to 37.16% and Westside’s was 402 against and 339 in favor, for 54.25% to 45.75%.

In the wake of that defeat at the polls, Armstrong announced that paid staff at the Careywood station would be eliminated in June, in order to save “a substantial amount in overtime and personnel costs,” with those funds “shifted immediately to the maintenance of our aging fleet, fire station repairs and equipment replacement.”

That move prompted a petition from some community members, which stated in part: “This decision has left our community without direct, local emergency response. In rural areas like ours, response times are everything, and removing our local team puts lives, homes, and property at higher risk.

“We understand that budget challenges exist. But removing our fire protection should never be the solution,” the petition added. “Careywood residents deserve safety, transparency and a voice in decisions that affect our survival in emergencies.”

At the July 23 meeting, Armstrong laid out some of the realities that local fire districts are facing post-election, framing the larger issue as connected with growth in the county, which he cited as increasing in population between 20% and 27% in the past five years while call volume has gone up 15% — attributable both to new residents but also visitors and those traveling through the area.

“I did have a conversation with somebody at the county Planning Commission recently, and they told me that, you know, 20% to 27% growth — that isn’t much growth. I feel like it is,” he said. “It is when you look at what it’s doing to our community, and the impact that’s having on emergency services. …

“I’m the first chief in a while that has really sounded the alarm on growth,” he later added.

Armstrong also touched on the high rates of inflation experienced across the economy, but which also affect emergency services. 

“There are things that we have to replace, that we have to purchase, that we have to have to keep this fire department and these fire agencies running, that has hit almost a 50% inflation [rate],” he said, pointing to the example of a $100 hose that now costs $175.

“When a hose breaks I have to buy a hose, or I have to carry less hose on fire engines,” Armstrong said. “That’s a very simple analogy, but that’s an analogy that I use. That’s a real-life piece of equipment that I looked at.”

He added that compounding high rates of growth and inflation, many pieces of critical equipment are aging while maintenance has been deferred, on top of a 3% yearly budget cap for the taxing districts.

“So we either need to scale back, find a way to do business cheaper or be creative,” he said.

Armstrong said a primary goal going forward is to continue developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the fire districts while undertaking detailed analysis of the current budget — with all its constraints — weighed against future needs.

He promised to compile a presentation specific to inflationary effects on emergency services and equipment for the next meeting of the fire officials, and ultimately prepare a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that includes a three- to five-year plan for addressing capital items — including fire engines.

“We’re trying to get ahead of this issue that we have with our fleet,” Armstrong said. “Twenty-five-year old fire engines are not sustainable. Our guys were responding to a call the other day, and the fire engine started having mechanical problems on the way to the call.

“That’s a reality. And this isn’t the first time that we’ve got a fire engine break down on the way to a fire, and it’s going to continue to happen until we get to a point where these this fleet is either sustainable, and we invest enough money into making these old fire engines completely new, or we get to a point where we’re at that tipping point of getting into fire engines that are a little bit more sustainable,” he added.

Among the options for closing the budgetary gap were finding secondary uses for some fire district properties and facilities, as well as discontinuing some programs. Further consolidation of the fire districts could be a possibility as well, with consideration of placing an advisory measure on the next election ballot.

“We’re at a tipping point, you know,” said Gary Suppiger, who serves as a commissioner for the Sagle Fire District, specifically covering the Cocolalla and Careywood areas, among others, in the southern portion of the district. 

“We need to know what does the community want? Do they want us to continue to provide the current level of service, enhanced level of service or lower services,” he said. “I mean, after the levy this spring we didn’t have any choice. We had to reduce services. We had to brown out the Careywood station because we couldn’t afford to maintain it, and I think that’s going to continue. 

“The chief is doing a terrific job of trying to provide the resources we have within our budget,” Suppiger added, “but it’s just getting more and more difficult, and I see — long-term — our level of service decreasing unless we get more resources to devote to protect our patrons.”