Rural Fire Tax Referendum

As in the past, life gets in the way and this gets neglected unfortunately. However, there is a very important issue on Tuesday's ballot for residents in the Sterling Rural Fire District. On January 26th, there was an informational meeting held at the Coliseum. For anyone unable to attend, I have uploaded slide from the meeting here.

Much has been made that rural resident pay one-third the rate of City residents and since the rural area is no more than one-third the calls, that is appropriate. What the City is concerned with is that if the rural district is up to a third of the calls, the rural district should contribute up to a third the total cost.

If rural residents, as they are now, pay one-third the rate, a person with a rural home 1 foot outside city limits is paying one third the taxes of the person next door and inside the City. The City Council has been clear that it's not fair for the City to send the same number of firefighters and equipment to the rural district when those residents are paying a fraction of what City residents pay.

I have also been told that comments have been made that the substation or Station 1 is unnecessary. While we can operate without it, it will no doubt have a service impact in some instances. Unfortunately, whether we cut police, spending on infrastructure or economic development, there will be an impact. That's the unfortunate reality of where we are. The costs of general insurance, health insurance, pensions, road construction and specialty equipment have all risen much faster than normal inflation and revenues.

Lastly, I would ask everyone to review Page 15 of the presentation. Sterling Rural Fire District residents have the LOWEST rate in Whiteside's 12 rural fire districts yet are one of only two districts receiving fire services from full-time firefighters. 8 of 12 districts pay either double or triple the Sterling Rural rate for volunteer service. One cannot reasonably expect the City of Sterling to provide fulltime firefighters at a rate that's half of what other districts pay for volunteers.

Please examine all the facts carefully before voting.