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Statement
For:
Why is Lacey Fire District
asking for more money?
The costs of providing services to you today, are greater than
current tax funding can support. Calls for emergency services
are increasing – faster than tax revenue generated by growth.
Because of the shortfalls, created in part by voter-approval
tax limits, the District cut crucial training, hiring, and maintenance
projects during 2002.
What does the District propose to do?
Property tax is the only funding source for District services
to residents. Voters asked for more direct control over property
tax decisions. Now we ask that you and your neighbors – on behalf
of more than 68,000 residents who rely on Lacey Fire District
to protect your lives and homes – exercise that control and
approve the District’s request for essential funding. That funding
will restore the resources that assure capable and speedy response
to your call for help.
What happens if voters do not approve this
request?
More than 85% of the District’s spending pays for service personnel
– both career and volunteer firefighters. Without this increase,
fewer people will be available to respond to your call. The
result? Service to the community, every hour of the day, every
day of the week, will be slowed.
When you call, Lacey Fire District responds.
Your “YES” vote will assure that they can continue to serve
you. Approve this Maintenance and Operations levy request; your
support of Lacey Fire District is an investment in community
safety and our quality of life.
Voters’ Pamphlet statement prepared by: K. Frank
Kirkbride, Judy Wilson, Skip Houser, Alan Corwin, Jim Broman
and Joel Graham
Rebuttal
for Statement Against:
Firefighters are trained to respond
to your emergency medical needs – over 5,000 calls in 2001 –
plus 2,200 other incidents. On average, Lacey firefighters respond
every 69 minutes to your calls for help. Demand grows with our
population, which has increased 30% since 1990.
The District’s CAPCOM expense is projected
to be $65,000 lower in 2003 and the levy request was reduced
by that amount.
The District forecasts a 2.1% cost of living
adjustment in 2003.
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Statement
Against:
It’s
difficult to protest – that too much money is being spent on
fire fighters – when fire fighters across the country are being
considered – HEROES. But we are spending too much money on fire
fighters.
Fire
District Three has projected pay increases for all of their
unionized fire fighters in excess of 6 percent, while state
employees, teachers and most other working people in Lacey and
in Thurston County have received far less – and in many cases
– nothing – due to budget constraints.
Lacey
Fire District Three should live within its budget. While fire
calls have been reduced to about 3 percent of all responses
– (most calls are medic calls) – budgets for fire fighting and
fire fighters have been increasing about $400,000 every year.
Voters
recently approved a sales tax levy for CAPCOM which will return
about $100,000 to Fire District 3 each year far into the future.
With that money and a 1 percent property tax increase already
authorized by the voters, Fire District 3 has no need to lift
the levy lid.
Fire
District 3 should learn to live within a budget. Everyone else
does.
Voters’
Pamphlet statement prepared by: Ken Balsley, Resident of the
City of Lacey
Rebuttal
for Statement For:
Con Committee declined to submit a Rebuttal.
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Explanatory Statement
Lacey Fire District No. 3 provides
fire protection and emergency medical services within its unincorporated
boundaries and also to the City of Lacey through an intergovernmental
agreement. Due to population growth, continuing inflation and
increased demand for services within the District, the District’s
regular property tax levy will be inadequate to maintain the
current level of services. As a result, the money in the District’s
Expense Fund will be insufficient to meet all of the District’s
projected expenses of operation and maintenance during 2003.
Passage of Proposition 1 would authorize the District to levy
a one-year excess property tax in the total amount of $535,000
upon all taxable property within the District for collection
in 2003. The approximate levy rate to produce this amount will
be $0.27 per $1,000 of assessed value. These excess property
taxes will be used to maintain the District’s current level
of fire protection and emergency medical services by paying
for approximately 8.5% of the District’s projected expenses
of operation and maintenance during 2003.
Explanatory Statement prepared
by: Foster Pepper & Shefelman PLLC for Fire Protection District
No. 3- Lacey.
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