FIRE DISTRICTS: Look out for consolidation

Beware Citizens of Worley, Spirit lake, Timberlake and Hauser Fire Districts. There is a move underway to consolidate all the fire districts in the county into one. This would move all the assets to the most populated areas and increase the EMS and Fire response time to rural areas.

They are using the idea that with the economy in a hurt locker, no one wants to increase taxes to their districts so they will consolidate the districts. What they won’t tell you is that they will be able to raise the taxes to the highest district’s levy rate without a vote of the people and that resources will be located to serve the greatest population of voters areas, because that is what bureaucrats do. Our Fire/Ems services are in jeopardy.

They say this is how counties are doing it all over the nation. If the whole county was urban I could understand this. With our ratio of rural to urban areas, this is a really bad idea.

Timberlake fire district has been told this is the future of the county by our Commissioners and the Chief of Northern Lakes Fire District. Our District refuses to have a vote for a levy increase to help fix our budget problems because they want this consolidation to happen as soon as possible, and they think an extra $9 a month will bankrupt some people.

Pay a little more for 5-mile away services or pay more for services coming from 20 miles or more away. Time to choose.

JEFFREY WHERLEY

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