GRAVOIS MILLS, Mo. — The Gravois Fire Protection District covers 150 square miles, responding to fires and other emergency calls. But the district says its dire financial condition could mean the end of responding to non-fire emergency calls, if district voters opt not to raise taxes on Tuesday.
The fire district has used up all of its emergency reserves, with officials saying the district has never really recovered from the 2007-2008 economic downturn. As a result, they are asking Morgan and Camden County voters within the district to approved a 30 cent levy increase in the Tuesday, Aug. 2 ballot. This equals to $85.50 per $150,000 assessed valuation, or (for the owner of a home assessed at $150,000) a $7.13 per month increase.
Hardly anyone likes paying taxes, and some might question whether this increase is necessary. Gayle Webb, with the Lake West Ambulance District, says it is.
“Chief Hancock told us they may have to stop running medical calls,” said Webb, who is the office manager for the LWA District. That district covers 244 square miles with two ambulances. “The Gravois Fire Department is a vital component of the emergency medical response in our district," Webb said, "and we are better equipped to serve our citizens with their help. Firefighters are usually the first ones to arrive on the scene of an emergency, and they are a huge help to our district.”
Firefighters can extract a victim that is trapped in a car, assess a patient and radio their status to the ambulance, stabilize the patient and dispatch a helicopter, even before the ambulance arrives. Firefighters also sometimes assist with moving patients up the steep lake area terrain.
If both ambulances are on a call, dispatchers will call for mutual aid from either Mid Mo or Mercy Ambulance District, which can mean another 20 to 30 minutes wait time, if they are available. With the long travel distances to rural homes and then to hospitals, time becomes a very important factor in saving lives.
“People don’t think about this because it hasn’t happened to them yet,” Lake West Ambulance District Operations Manager Joanne Blackburn said. “And when it does, this will affect them. If you or your loved one has a severe injury, the sooner someone can address the bleeding or if they are having difficulty breathing, the sooner they are put on oxygen, the better chance there is for a positive outcome.”
Responses to medical emergencies amount to approximately 65 percent of the Gravois Fire Protection District's overall responses. In 2015, district firefighters responded to 469 of these types of calls.
The district board and a citizens committee previously performed a comprehensive study of district finances, personnel, equipment and growth and recommended a levy increase be placed on the August ballot.
Of top priority in a fire district's budget is the replacement of outdated firefighter and rescue equipment. But for GFPD, other costs are increasing as the overall number of emergency responses continues to rise every year, along with the cost to conduct business and purchase supplies.
District earnings come from assessments against property taxes and the only way to increase revenue is for assessments to appreciate or to have new construction and improvements, which historically has not happened in the district.
The GFPD was started in 1992 with a 30 cent levy. The last GFPD Levy increase was approved in 2006 and it was 16 cents for staffing. The levy was at 26.08 and even though voters approved 30 cents the total levy charged was only 39 cents, due to the Hancock Amendment. The current 2016 levy is 39.02.
The Hancock Amendment was passed to protect taxpayers from taxable entities gaining windfall profits due to community growth. The state sets the consumer price index, which is to taxable entities what the cost of living index is to an individual.
The state compares last year and this year’s real estate taxes and if the growth is more than the consumer price index, it automatically adjusts the levy rate to make it meet the law's conditions. This too has hurt the district financially.
The district reports the average community growth from 1994 to 2006 was 6.3 percent, and that was due to construction and improvement re-assessment. The average growth from 2009 to 2016 was 2.2 percent. “That growth just doesn’t keep up with the cost of doing business,” Chief Hancock commented.
Also, during the economic downturn, property values plummeted. According to Businessman/GFPD Board President Johnie Ray, in some cases, property valued at $100,000 sold for $20,000, which greatly reduced the properties' assessed valuation.
Subsequently, district volunteer firefighters have decreased and recruitment and retention have become extremely difficult, due to competing fire districts who are able to pay a higher wage. Firefighters in the district are paid less than those in the Sunrise Beach, Osage Beach, Mid County and Lake Ozark fire departments.
“Chief Hancock started working towards solving this problem back in 2007. We have cut everything that can possibly be cut and still be able to function,” District Board President Ray assured. “Without this additional revenue we will not be able to continue to maintain the level of service we are currently providing.”
Chief Hancock reports that if the levy is not approved, within 90 days the district will be forced to eliminate emergency medical response, which includes any response not related to a fire, a vehicle crash, an emergency rescue or other hazardous condition. “We will also look at the consolidation of resources by closing outlying firehouses, selling apparatus and equipment and cutting staff from three members to two member shifts,” Chief Hancock said. Public education, fire prevention and safety and firefighter training and more will also be cut.
The district says if voters approve they levy they can expect the following:
- Prevention of the cutback or elimination of current services.
- Prevention of the closing of fire houses.
- Increase in base pay of existing staff, resulting in an increase in recruitment and retention.
- Increase in career personnel.
- The full-time staffing of one additional firehouse.
- Reduction of time to arriving on scene.
- Increased training.
- The replacement of obsolete firefighting and rescue equipment.
- Establishment of an emergency reserve fund.
- The retaining of the current ISO rating, which equals to lower insurance premiums for some in the district. According to Shelter Insurance Agent Derek Thomason, if the district closed one fire house and the ISO rate changed from a 7 to a 10, the cost for property insurance could increase by 20 to 25 percent.
- The increase of fire safety and public education programs.
Levy
If approved, the proposed 30 cents per hundred dollars assessed evaluation will generate an additional $698,599 the first year, and the earnings each consecutive year will depend on the consumer price index, as well as on any new construction or improvements assessed against property.
For more information call Chief Hancock at 573-374-4440.
