While Clallam County Fire District 3’s $9 million budget next year may be balanced, leaders within the department said they likely need the public’s help to keep from operating in a deficit in the years to come.
Fire commissioners told Fire Chief Ben Andrews they seek more information for a possible levy lid lift in November 2018 to put the Sequim-area fire district on more solid ground.
“We obviously need more funding and need to determine where that funding goes,” said fire Commissioner Mike Gawley.
“A lot of discussions are going to have to take place.”
Fire officials revealed the department likely will go into deficit spending in the third quarter of 2019 after investigating finances for a federal matching grant called SAFER, or Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, that would have partially paid for six full-time firefighters over three years.