From: OPB

This week the Bend City Council approved sending an increased fire levy to voters, as public agencies in the area look for more funding to serve a growing population.

The levy, if approved in the May election, would increase property taxes from the current levy of 20 cents per $1,000 taxable assessed value to 76 cents.

The levy comes to voters as Bend’s population continues to swell. The city’s population has grown by 20% since 2014 when voters last approved the rate to pay for the fire department.

Since then, calls for service to the fire department have increased by 60%, Bend Fire Chief Todd Riley told the City Council on Wednesday.

“Although we are not in a response time crisis right now, our increasing calls for services have the potential to negatively impact those response times,” he said.

Riley said the money raised through the levy — which could be more than $65 million over five years — will mainly go toward sustaining and increasing the fire department’s staff. That includes nine firefighters hired in September using one-time funding, which expires in 2024.

While voters will have their say on the levy in May, if approved it would not go into effect until 2024, when the current levy rate of 20 cents is set to expire.

From: KTVZ

Survey at 81 cents/$1,000 of property value found bare-majority support; cost trimmed to 76 cents

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend Fire and Rescue has a year and a couple of months before their current operating levy expires, but they are planning ahead and will be seeking a successor levy in May. Bend Fire has trimmed several million dollars off the levy it’s taking to voters on the May ballot. 

The proposed levy will be $0.76 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value. The fire chief said for a home of $300,000, a homeowner will pay $19 a month. 

“We rely on the existing levy to provide our services, and because we haven’t changed the rate in 10 years.” Fire Chief Todd Riley said Monday.

“We need to add firefighters, and the only way we can add firefighters is with an increase to our funding,” Riley added. “We are increasing this levy to have that new engine at Station 6 (Pilot Butte Station), as well as adding a one advanced life-support paramedic ambulance to help transport.” 

Riley said more than 80% of calls are emergency medical incidents.

“Our call volume over those same 10 years has increased by 60%, and so we’re essentially spending the same amount of staff and resources on 60% more calls,” he said.

Bend city Mayor Melanie Kebler explained the department covers a broad area. 

“As we’ve grown as a community, we’ve seen an increased call for service, everything from medical to fire,” Kebler said. “Also, most people don’t understand our fire department doesn’t just cover the city of Bend, they cover the whole rural fire department around the city of Bend.”

The initial levy going to voters would have asked for $0.81 per $1,000 of assessed value, but it was trimmed to the $0.76.

Riley said, “We used 81 cents in our community survey and so when the consultant  came back and gave us the results of the survey it was apparent that there was voter hesitation due to cost.” 

Kebler said, “That’s why we are working with our rural fire board, as well as the city council, to come together and say, here’s the level of funding we need to make sure that we are keeping everyone safe in the community and responding the way that we should be to fire and medical emergencies.

The department’s first five-year operating levy won voter approval in 2014 and was renewed in 2019 at $0.20 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value. 

Riley and other officials met last week with city councilors for a briefing on the planned levy request, which was trimmed from an initial proposal of 81 cents per $1,000 of assessed value after a recent community survey found less-than-majority support for the higher amount (see council presentation below), though it rose back above 50% with more information provided to survey respondents.

The city used federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars to open the Pilot Butte fire station and add staff until the new levy request.

Rural Fire Board member Ray Miao told councilors at last week’s meeting what the survey results underscore: “This is not going to be an easy campaign. Everything has to be one voice, one message” to succeed, he said.

A number of departments that submitted SAFER applications have contacted our office about award status. Review panels are scheduled for the first week of May; once panels conclude it is typically 2-3 months before the first awards are received.  Keep in mind that there are many rounds of awards – previous years had 25+ rounds of awards which required 10 months to fully disburse all the funding.  It is helpful to keep some important numbers in mind.  In Fiscal Year 2013:

• FEMA received 910 applications requesting 5,964 fire fighters.  Of these:

o 25 were rehiring applications for 160 personnel

o 58 were retention applications for 680 personnel

o 254 were attrition applications for 2026 personnel

o 573 were new hire applications for 3098 personnel

• FEMA awarded 169 grants (18.5%) that funded 1,663 fire fighters (28%).

While it’s too soon to tell who will be awarded, not all will be successful.  Fire departments around the country have been very creative and successful in their search for alternative funding and have been able to tap into a variety of alternate funding sources to meet their equipment and program needs including:

• FEMA AFG Training and Equipment and the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants.

• Published in April 2012, yet still very relevant, is the U.S. Fire Administration Funding Alternatives for Emergency Medical and Fire Services.

• An example of other funding opportunities is Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The El Paso (TX) Fire Department was able to build a new fire station, remodel an existing fire station, as well as purchase several large pieces of apparatus with $1.5 million in CDBG funds. Contact the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs to find out more about this grant opportunity.

• Many fire departments have had success at the local level from community and business organizations. This includes many utility and energy-producing companies, along with other corporate sponsors including insurance organizations.

• The Galveston (TX) Fire Department received a grant for two thermal imaging cameras from the Historic Preservation Grant Program.  In applying for the grant, the Galveston Fire Department used the rationale that with thermal imaging, the department could locate the seat of the fire faster and extinguish it with less damage to historic structures.