Ore. District Asks for Funding to Add Sleeping Quarters

May 01--The Gaston Rural Fire District is asking voters on May 20 to renew a levy to fund general operations and cover building and equipment maintenance through 2020.

If the levy passes, Fire Chief Roger Mesenbrink said, the district would like to build a small addition to the fire station to house overnight staffing.

The district has two paid firefighters, but also relies largely on volunteers, Mesenbrink said. The facility would likely house two or three people, and would help cut down on response time, he said.

"Right now our volunteers are spread out all over," he said. "This will be another tool in our tool box."

Measure No. 34-217 will cost property owners $0.67 per $1,000 of assessed value for five years, starting when the current levy expires July 1, 2015. This is the same rate property owners have paid since 2010, and is in addition to the district's permanent tax rate of $1.09 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The levy is expected to raise about $199,869 in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, according to the district. Half of the money raised will go into a reserve account to fund equipment repair and replacement and building improvements, according to the measure's ballot description.

Mesenbrink didn't have a figure for how much a facility addition might cost. He said the district doesn't have any immediate equipment needs, as some old equipment was replaced with the previous levy.

Mesenbrink said the levy is essential for the district.

"Without the levy, we can't operate," he said. "My message to the taxpayers is we're renewing this levy with no increases."

There is no organized opposition to the levy.

--Laura Frazier

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