MAY 28, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
MCFD1 breathing sigh of relief after levy approval
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
After suffering through a pair of failed
levies over the last year, Marion County
Fire District #1 (MCFD1) had their local
option levy (Measure #24-
455) pass with over 60%
of the vote at the May 18
Special District election.
The levy, which will
last for the next five years,
is for $0.59 per $1,000 of
assessed property value —
or $59 ($4.92 per month) per
$100,000 of value.
“We were absolutely
ecstatic. It was great to
know that our message was
received,” said MCFD1 fire
chief Kyle McMann. “We
know things are tight still,
but now we can limit liability
for our firefighters and our
citizens.”
After receiving a $0.71
levy from 2016 to 2020,
the district asked voters to
increase the levy by $0.28 at
the primary election in May
2020, but at the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the
ballot measure was not approved — it
was the first time a levy wasn’t approved
in the history of the district.
At the November 2020 general
election, MCFD1 asked voters to renew
the $0.71 levy, but once again the mea-
sure failed, forcing the district to cut
$2.4 million from their $19.7 million bud-
get — MCFD1 is an independent taxing
$1,000 of assessed property value.
Due to the budget cuts, MCFD1 was
forced to layoff 12 full-time firefighter/
paramedics, close down fire stations in
Macleay and Labish Center and take
emergency apparatus out of
service.
But with the passing of
the levy last week, the dis-
trict will be able to rehire
nine firefighter/paramedic
positions this summer and
add a dedicated three-per-
son engine company, which
will be placed at the district’s
Middle Grove location. The
number of responding units
will also increase from three
to four, which will help with
the delays in response times
MCFD1 has experienced
over the last year.
“Some of our laid-off per-
sonnel got jobs with other
departments, but there are
also quite a few firefighters
that are ready and excited
to come back, they are just
waiting for their date to
return,” McMann said.
McMann believes that
citizens were more inclined to vote yes
due to their being less issues on the
ballot, but also because of the district’s
committed effort to get their message
We were absolutely
ecstatic. It was great to
know that our message
was received. We know
things are tight still, but
now we can limit liability
for our firefighters and
our citizens.
— KYLE MCMANN
Fire Chief, MCFD1
district and receives no revenue from
Marion County, the state or federal gov-
ernment, emergency services are funded
through a permanent tax rate of $1.90 of
out to the community on the impor-
tance of the levy. McMann reached out
to multiple legislators about the levy
and had a couple interviews on local
radio stations. MCFD1 also hosted three
virtual town hall meetings and even had
off-duty firefighters go door-to-door to
promote their cause.
“There was a lot less noise on the
ballot. There weren’t any presidential
or Senate races on there. But we really
pushed hard to get our message out to
the community,” McMann said.
During virtual town halls, as well as
other conversations with local citizens,
McMann believes that the biggest sell-
ing point for the levy was having a dedi-
cated three-person engine company.
“I don’t think people realized that
our crews are oftentimes committed for
six or seven hours at a time and that in
certain situations, we would be unable
to respond in a timely fashion to some-
thing like a child choking because we
don’t have a dedicated engine company
that is there all the time,” McMann said.
“I think that was the biggest eye-opener
for people.”
The levy will officially go into effect
on July 1.
“This was extremely important for
us. It reduces our response times and it
keeps us stable so that we won’t get to
this point again,” McMann said.