Crooked River Ranch voters will decide in November whether to spend 20 more cents per thousand dollars of assessed value to continue funding the fire district. "It's for staffing, and maintenance of equipment, and facilities. It also helps fund our capital improvements." Fire Chief Harry Ward tells KBND News, "There's been a perception that it's all about our staff, and because of PERS and other things went up. "That's a small part of it."
Ward says the district needs up-to-date, working equipment, "We need to have stuff that we can rely on, especially in those situations where somebody's life may depend on the equipment that we have." He says they'll need to replace one of its ambulances in the next 12 to 18 months.