Chief Armstrong presents argument in favor of local fire district levies

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

At the beginning of the Idaho Fireplace Forum, hosted May 3 by Dist. 1 Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, and Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, at the Sandpoint Community Hall, Selkirk Fire Chief Jeff Armstrong made a case for why a suite of levies for area fire districts should be approved by voters in the Tuesday, May 20 election.

Armstrong, who serves as the chief for the Northside, Sagle and Westside fire districts, said the levies on the ballot are necessary to keep pace with growth in the county.

Chief Jeff Armstrong. File photo

“With that has come some growth and some demand on our emergency services,” he said. “Now I look at stats and I see data that says 20%-27% [growth] over the last 10-20 years, depending on what source you looked at. … Our call volume hasn’t grown 27%, but our call volume is increasing.”

All three fire districts are asking property taxpayers to contribute more toward staffing, equipment and maintenance, and general services: Northside is seeking almost $1.9 million, $2.6 million in Sagle and just shy of $1.4 million in Westside. Levy increases would range from $41 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value in Northside to $34 per $100,000 in Sagle to $71 per $100,000 in Westside.

In Sagle and Westside, levy dollars would go to adding firefighters at several stations, providing a minimum of two firefighters/EMTs at the Careywood and Sagle stations and increasing the number of firefighters/EMTs in Westside from one per day to three on shift per day.

Armstrong identified other goals as reinvigorating the volunteer firefighter program, which has all but disappeared over the years, and creating a $150,000-per-year savings account for a new fire engine, which has risen in cost from about $700,000 a decade ago to about $1 million.

“Just like everybody we’re seeing the cost of doing business is going up,” Armstrong said, estimating that a new engine will be needed in five to seven years.

“One hundred and fifty-thousand dollars in a savings account in five to seven years would give us a good number to buy something that’s in really good shape — decent and used,” he said.