By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District’s budget committee Monday approved a 2021-22 spending plan of $1.67 million — including using the sale of its former station in downtown Yachats and a loan of up to $550,000 to prop up its troubled finances.
Following the almost two-hour budget meeting Monday, the board heard a proposal from two members to ask voters in November to approve a 64 percent increase in one of its two local tax levies. The proposed increase in a local operating levy from 61 cents per $1,000 assessed property value to $1 is designed to end the district’s yearly borrowing, which has mushroomed in the past three years.
But in approving the budget, the chair of the 10-member budget committee sent a letter to the board and two administrators asking the district to resolve some major questions before it considers asking taxpayers for more money.
Formal adoption of the district’s budget — three days before it is due to the state — and the proposed tax increase request will be discussed at a special meeting June 28. A public hearing is slated to be part of that meeting.
Highlights of the proposed 2021-22 budget include:
- A slight decrease in pay for district administrator Frankie Petrick and no cost of living adjustment this year;
- A 1.5 percent cost of living increase for other employees;
- Just $22,000 in a reserve fund for new equipment, and an operating contingency of $11,000 — both of which are extremely low by government standards.
- An anticipated boost in loan obligations from this year’s $300,000 to $550,000 in the new budget.
The district has been operating $400,000 to $500,000 in the red for much of the past three years – borrowing money each January to fund month-to-month expenses and then paying it back in November when property taxes come in. Board members say that revenue from its tax base and two operating levies have not been able to keep up with expenses.
While the district’s new fire station was built with a $7.7 million voter-approved bond, it is money that can’t be spent on year-to-year operations.
Although board treasurer Ed Hallahan has taken the blame for not recognizing financial issues earlier, board president Katherine Guenther said at Monday’s meeting, ”This is something that’s been building … we’re a team … we’ll all take the hit.”
The district’s debt could be cut substantially — but not eliminated — by sale of the old fire station on West Second Street that is now on the market. Petrick reported a few prospective buyers have shown “serious interest,” but no offers have been received. The property is on the market for $550,000.
Petrick told the budget committee that proceeds from the sale “will go to reduce debt for this year and the upcoming year … but it won’t eliminate the need for borrowing.”
No funds for two more staffers
The new budget does not allow for two additional firefighters/paramedics, which Petrick has said are sorely needed. “Our finances just do not allow that at this time,” she said.
The district has tried to fund seven firefighters the past two years – to help staff a sub-station up the Yachats River and fill in other shifts – but the proposed budget has money for just six.
In a report to the board after Monday’s budget committee meeting, a subcommittee of Hallahan and Drew Tracy predicted dire consequences if the district fails to get a big bump in funding.
“YRFPD cannot continue to operate without a significant increase in operating funds,” their report stated. Conceding that the proposed tax increase “may seem high,” the group noted that it would be the first increase in 14 years.
The district’s yearly operating budget comes from a permanent tax base and two levies which are good for five years. The levies have not been increased since they were first approved in 1999 and 2008. Between the bond, the tax base and two levies, the Yachats fire district takes up the third-largest portion — 16 percent — of all property taxes levied in Yachats.
Here’s how the levies work:
- The district’s permanent tax base, established in 1997, is 29 cents per $1,000 assessed property value;
- A five-year levy that started in 1999 carries a tax rate of 61 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value; it was last renewed in 2019;
- A five-year levy that started in 2008 is 59 cents per $1,000; it was last approved in May 2018;
- In total, the three levies add up to a tax rate of $1.49 per $1,000 assessed property value or $372 a year on property assessed at $250,000.
Relaying the district’s financial need to a growing community will be vital, said board member Don Tucker. “You’re going to have to do a hell of a good job communicating” to newly-arrived residents who may not be familiar with YRFPD’s plight, he advised.
Similar concerns were expressed in a letter to the board by budget committee chair Joanne Kittel. Before asking voters to support a tax increase, Kittel cited three areas “that need to be addressed internally first” by the district’s board. These are:
- The existence of two administrators for the district. Kittel’s understanding was that assistant district administrator Shelby Knife was to be eased into the job of administrator when Petrick retired. But the double administrator situation “has been going on for years.” If it’s to continue, she wrote, “that administrative expense needs to be justified to the taxpayers.”
- South Lincoln Ambulance and its relationship with the district. Yachats’ ambulance service is a private, nonprofit controlled by Petrick, Knife and three other fire district residents. The fire district subsidizes the ambulance service by staffing it with two firefighters/paramedics, which leaves the area relying on Waldport and Seal Rock fire departments when they are making ambulance runs. The ambulance district – which charges a little more than half of what Pacific West Ambulance bills for service in the rest of Lincoln County — pays $150 a month for utilities and rent at the main Yachats fire station. At least three fire board members want to explore that relationship.
- Selling the old firehouse first, before asking voters for a tax increase.
Kittel stressed that her letter intended no criticism toward staff or the board. Rather, she advised that showing the public that the district was making effective use of public funds would probably result in voters approving a tax increase.
- Cheryl Romano is a Yachats freelance reporter who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. She can be reached at Wordsell@gmail.com
- Quinton Smith of YachatsNews.com contributed to this report
To read Joanne Kittel’s letter to the fire district board, go here.
To see a copy of the fire district’s proposed 2021-22 budget, go here.