Voters turn out for Timberlake, Northern Lakes fire district levies
Timberlake Fire Chief Brandon Hermenet didn’t get any sleep Tuesday night as the votes for the fire district’s permanent levy were counted.
According to the Kootenai County Elections Department, the levy needed two-thirds support and passed with 68.5% of the votes.
He wasn’t overly concerned the levy adding firefighters to the district would fail, but the anxiety of waiting kept him up.
“It was awesome to see the support that we had, and we’re all super excited about it. We haven’t gone for one (levy) recently, so it was interesting to get the temperature of the community,” Hermenet said.
The permanent levy override of $700,000 per year allows the district to add a second station and five firefighters to the staff at Timberlake. This will allow four Timberlake firefighters to be on duty 24/7 and keep the district covered if multiple calls come in.
In the Northern Lakes Fire Protection District on Wednesday morning, Chief Pat Riley was feeling relieved and grateful with the passage of their own temporary levy.
“This was a big day,” Riley said.
Firefighters from the district have hosted town halls, attended civic events and managed a social media campaign to spread information about the 12 firefighter positions the levy would save. The levy was also a safeguard to ensure a third fire station can remain open.
Northern Lakes Fire Protection District’s two-year override levy of $3.5 million per year easily passed Tuesday night with 73.7% of the votes.
Riley said the vote was a stark contrast to 2021 when Northern Lakes requested a $2 million permanent override levy, which failed with 60.66% of the vote. The measure needed a supermajority of 66 2/3%, according to Idaho Code.
“We’re not going to rest easy on it, and I am very grateful for the overwhelming public support for our district in the levy,” Riley said. “Now, it’s up to us to deliver on the promises that we made.”
Timberlake Fire Protection District's Station No. 1 in Athol.