Ashley Vasquez

The fate of a significant Smithville Area Fire District tax levy and bond issue will be decided in a few weeks, and officials want to explain further why they are asking for help from patrons.

The fire Board of Directors approved a ballot initiative in May. The initiative came at the recommendation of the community advisory committee formed by Fire Chief John Callahan, and many of the committee members are also working to promote the issue with the public.

The initiative, which will be on the Aug. 5 ballot, calls for a levy increase for the Smithville Area Fire Protection District of 60 cents and a bond of $11 million, which would cost taxpayers an additional 35 to 38 cents above the proposed levy increase for debt service. In total, the two items would mean an increase of about 95 to 98 cents per assessed $100 on property taxes.

Board President Berry Parks said the passage of the levy is essential for the future of the district.

“We need this for the safety of the whole district,” he said. “In order for this department to give adequate coverage to all of its patrons and keep our firefighters safe, we need new stations and more staffing.”

The Herald asked a few questions to Chief John Callahan that some voters have been wanting more information about from the district. Here is a summary of what he had to say.

Why build three new fire stations?

As part of the bond proposal, if passed, three new stations would be built with the new funding. One would be in the northwest portion of the district near Missouri Route W that would include a training facility. This station would be constructed first, Callahan said. The second two stations would be located in the northeast corner of the district near Paradise and in the southeast portion of the district along Missouri Highway 92 toward Missouri Route C.

“Just building the first station to the northwest will more than cut our response times in half,” he said. “Right now, it can take us up to 20 minutes to get to Paradise from our station in Smithville. They might as well not even have a fire department at that rate. Having a station up to the northwest in the first year will cut that time dramatically. After the first station is up and running, then we will build the second two stations, which will decrease (response times) even more.”

Which stations will be staffed and why?

Callahan said that not all of the four stations, if approved, would be staffed at all time. However, he said that even if the northeast and southeast stations are not manned, they are still beneficial.

“Because of staffing, even with the tax levy, we will only fully staff two stations in the beginning,” he said. “But, that doesn’t mean people aren’t seeing a benefit. Having stations closer to your home will put equipment closer to you when needed and will drop your ISO rating and most likely your insurance.”

Callahan also said the unmanned stations would accommodate growth.

“We can increase our crew size as we go,” he said. “At the point that we need to have more people on staff at each one of those locations, we can. We won’t need to build new stations in many, many years.”

Why do you need funds for new equipment?

Callahan said that the current equipment operated by the department is mostly out-of-date and all of the new stations will need new equipment.

“We have several pieces of equipment, including our ladder truck and our reserve pumper, that don’t meet today’s safety standards and are barely running if at all,” he said. “Also, the new stations will need new equipment to bring them up to standard and ensure that the department has the minimum that it needs to do its job.”

For future maintenance and replacement, the bond issue and levy will help the department put its equipment on a rotating replacement schedule, Callahan said.

“Right now, the department has had to purchase its equipment used from other departments,” he said. “This has worked with the budget, but in the end, we have just bought other people’s problems. The maintenance has outweighed the savings by buying used. Once we have everything we need, we are going to develop a capital improvements and maintenance fund to be able to replace the equipment without having to ask voters for more money. For example, if the levy passes and we buy new trucks and pumpers, we will put them on a 10-year or so rotating replacement schedule, put the money away and pay for them in cash each year that they come up for replacement.”

Why do you need to increase staffing by 15 new full-time firefighters?

Callahan explained that the department has a minimum staffing requirement right now of no more than three firefighters on duty at any shift. If the levy passes, the department will have eight per shift for the two stations.

“We can’t theoretically even do an interior attack on a house fire according to the national safety standards because we don’t have enough staffing,” he said. “We need six to do that. When we have eight per shift, we will be able to keep our firefighters safe and be able to more adequately respond to more calls when they come in.”

Callahan stressed that when more than one emergency call is made in a short period of time, they often can’t respond quickly or have to remove people from one location to another.

“It isn’t safe for the firefighters or for the patrons like it is now,” he said. “We need more people to be able to help you.”

Why do you need to include funds in the levy to increase current firefighters’ salary and benefits?

Callahan explained that the current salary of starting full-time firefighters in the district is several thousand less than surrounding districts.

“We are in constant training mode,” he said. “We become a training ground for new firefighters before they move on to make significantly more in Kansas City or Southern Platte or Jackson County. By doing this, we are spending more money on training and turnover that we should be giving to the firefighters in salary and in training them for higher leadership. We aren’t developing our current staff enough because we are always training someone new, which can take up to a year or so, and then they leave. It just isn’t working, and we need to be more competitive.”

Will volunteers still be used if the bond issue and tax levy pass?

Callahan said the department has a strong volunteer staff and wants that service to continue but stressed that volunteers need the same certifications as the paid firefighters and must work 48 hours per month.

“Our patrons deserve firefighters and emergency medical personnel that are trained,” he said. “It is a huge liability issue and something our citizens deserve. Also, it is much harder to find volunteers than in years past because many people work during the day and cannot respond. We will always have volunteers and use them, but we still need more full-time paid staffing.”

If I live outside of the core of the city of Smithville, why is this proposal good for me?

Callahan said that people living north, south, east and west of Smithville in the 110-square-mile district will see lowered home insurance costs and better response time.

“We will most likely cut our response times in half or better to most of our patrons,” he said. “The current station is in a good location for the people living in the core of Smithville, but the people in the greater part of the district have been paying taxes for years for less than adequate service. Having stations closer to more of our patrons is safer and more efficient.”

If I live within the core of the City of Smithville, why is this proposal good for me?

Callahan said that downtown and core Smithville residents will also benefit from the new stations, staffing and equipment.

“Our station may be close to you, but it doesn’t mean that we have enough staff to really help you if your house is on fire, and if we happen to be on a call in the far ends of the district, it is going to take us that long to get to

you, too,” he said. “If we are sent up to Paradise with a minimum staff, they

are going to have to travel the 20 minutes back to you to help. It just doesn’t work.”

What happens if the tax levy and bond issue fail?

Callahan said that if the tax levy and bond issue fail on Aug. 5, it is inevitable that more cuts to the department’s budget will have to be made.

“We will always give the best service we can possibly give,” Callahan said. “Unfortunately, without a levy increase, we will have to most likely lay off a firefighter in 2009. There really is no way around it. I am just here to inform the public about the service they have and don’t have. It is up to them to make the decision on what kind of fire department they want. We will always be here as long as the community wants and will respond. Our staff works very, very hard, and this department has made some very big strides over the years, but we need to take it to the next level for everyone’s safety.”

More information about the fire levy and bond issue will be available in next week’s issue.

The details:

- The ballot initiative calls for a levy increase of 60 cents per $100 of assessed property, which would allow the Smithville fire protection district to hire 15 additional full-time firefighters, increasing staffing from 10 to 25. The additional dollars will also help increase current firefighters’ salaries to more closely match those of surrounding departments, possibly reducing turnover. 

- The initiative also calls for an $11 million bond issue with 35 to 38 cents of debt service added onto the levy increase, which would fund a new station with a training center in northwest Smithville, costing approximately $3.2 million, and two satellite stations in the northeast and southeast, costing approximately $1.9 million each. The bond would also provide approximately $2.9 million in new apparatuses and equipment for the district as well as paying off the $1,143,000 the district owes in lease purchases and fixing its financial crisis.

What is an ISO rating, and what is the PPC program?

ISO, a national insurance organization, gathers information on U.S. fire protection districts. For each of those communities, ISO analyzes the relevant data and assign a Public Protection Classification (PPC) from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents “exemplary public protection,” and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program doesn’t meet ISO’s minimum criteria.

According to the organization’s Web site, “the program provides an objective, countrywide standard that helps fire departments in planning and budgeting for facilities, equipment and training. And by securing lower fire insurance premiums for communities with better public protection, the PPC program provides incentives and rewards for communities that choose to improve their firefighting services.”

ISO has information on more than 44,000 fire-response jurisdictions including the Smithville Area Fire Protection District.

Chief John Callahan said that if you are within five driving miles from a fire station and 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant, your ISO should be about a 6 in Smithville. Many Smithville area residents have an ISO of 9 or higher, he said.

Source: www.isomitigation.com

Smithville Editor Ashley Vasquez can be reached at 532-4444 or ashleyvasquez@npgco.com.

Comments on "Fate of fire tax levy, bond drawing closer"

Comments are limited to 200 words or less.