A combined Hermiston-Stanfield fire district will be back on the ballot in May after being denied by Hermiston voters in 2014.
The new ballot measure would tax the district at $1.75 per $1,000 of assessed value, down from the $2 per $1,000 the district tried for a year ago, and add around-the-clock staffing to Hermiston’s two outlying stations.
Hermiston Fire & Emergency Services Chief Scott Stanton told the Hermiston City Council on Monday that the combined district would allow him to increase staffing levels at all three Hermiston fire stations.
Stanton said currently his department was averaging four delays of service a month when someone called for an ambulance or fire truck and there was no one available to respond. There were also 36 “code reds” a month when one more ambulance call would have resulted in a delay.
“Eventually it’s going to cost someone their life or the loss of their property,” Stanton said. “That’s just a fact.”
Hermiston Fire & Emergency Services was formed in 1998 with a tax rate of $1.20 per $1,000 of assessed value. Stanton said that is still the fire district rate today, while comparably-sized districts in the state are averaging $2.04 per $1,000.
Meanwhile, the cost of everything from PERS benefits to medical supplies has “increased dramatically,” he said.
The fire district also loses tax revenue because of the enterprise zone and urban renewal zone, while still having to protect the structures built in them.
He said Hermiston’s rate of 181 calls per year per firefighter was one of the highest in the state.
The new fire district would not raise taxes for Hermiston residents, who are already paying the maximum $10 per $1,000 allowed for city services, or for Stanfield residents who are already paying more than $1.75 for their district. Instead, compression would cost the city of Hermiston’s general fund about $136,000 and taxes would go up for residents of the district outside the city limits.