Vote no on 4A

Welcome to My Mountain Town KincaidSprings!

And thank you for posting this poll and sharing your opinion, it is most appreciated.

While 2.5 is a 50% increase from the current 4.915 mill rate, it's still the lowest of all the area fire departments, yet they have a comparable or higher call volume rate of all area fire departments so those who live in the district are currently getting the best return on their investment than any other district around and will continue to get that even with a "raise". They also haven't had a "raise" in much longer than 4 years. In fact, their revenue is only projected to decrease thanks to continued declining home values, and due to decreases in what is paid by insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid for ambulance runs and medical calls.

If you read the Flume article that was published, they did this calculation:

A home with an actual value of $300,000 would have an assessed value of $23,880 (7.96 percent of the actual value) and by multiplying $23,880 times the 4.915 mill rate (.004915), that translates to an annual property tax on that $300,000 home of $117.37 tied to the fire district.

A mill rate of 7.415 would increase the annual tax on such a home to $177.07, an increase of $59.70 a year. The $177.07 works out to $14.76 a month.

Paying $60 more a year is a whole lot less painful than paying $236 more per year to insurance companies when rates go up because the department loses their good ISO rating next year AND having a decrease in the level of service that the department can provide.

If anyone want to learn more, the department has posted their annual budgets, which are reviewed by an outside, independent source, and additional info not required to be made public on their website.

This mill levy is subject to TABOR law, which means it must be spent in the way it is intended and the voters approve, it does expire, and is meant for things which have been kicked down the road until it couldn't be ignored any further - trucks, personal protective equipment for firefighters (the majority of whom are volunteers, and some of whom have gotten hurt due to inadequate protection from old gear), building maintenance, and to replace one position out of the 2.5 that they've cut that if it stays unfilled will directly impact their ISO review next year.

Those are the facts. I encourage everyone to please review all of the documents, watch the videos and learn more about how the department operates, and what will happen if this mill levy is or is not passed. It's up to all of you to decide what level of service you are willing to accept to serve your family and home in an emergency.

For full disclosure, I proudly admit that I am one of the Friends of Elk Creek Fire group. Nothing above is opinion, but I'm happy to share that as well, though it has no bearing on the facts of this issue.

WindPeak, I ask sincerely: how do you know that they haven't? I know they've cut benefits for their firefighters, among many other things. I don't know if pensions are among the cuts, but I can ask.

There is no coercion - you get to vote and decide what level of service you wish. The Chief has already fully admitted that no matter what the outcome of the mill levy, their rating will go down - they've lost a full-time Training Officer and a full-time Fire Marshall that they plan to only replace with half-time each if the mill levy is passed, and not replace at all if it isn't. They can't do the fire prevention and mitigation community outreach that they used to, which is also a factor. Their 25 year old tankers will not pass the pump tests. Period. Under either scenario, their rating will be negatively impacted.

The important points are that:
● The ISO rating will be negatively impacted, the question is, by how much?

● The 10 year ISO rating is due next year - previous boards kicked this problem down the road because they knew they didn't have that deadline looming over their heads, nor did they face the budget cuts that the decline in housing tax revenue and ambulance reimbursements have caused in the last 3 years.

● Everyone's insurance will go up, the question is, will it be by a little because ECFPD's rating goes from a 5 to a 6 or 7, or will it be by a lot because it goes from a 5 to an 8B like Inter-Canyon's rating or a 10? If it goes to 8B, rates will be significantly higher than they would at a 6 or 7. Even for insurance companies that don't go strictly by ISO ratings, but use their own systems to factor risk - they absolutely use the same reasons as ISO - distance to fire station from your home, capabilities of the responding fire department (equipment, personnel), amount of mitigation around the home, etc.

This mill levy will allow the department to maintain its current level of service. It's up to you if you think that's good enough, but make sure you know everything that they've done to save money up to this point before making assumptions. It's all there in the budgets and discussed in their board meetings.