The Cortez Fire Protection District, which serves the majority of Montezuma County and participates in support agreements for the four smaller districts and Mesa Verde National Park, is asking voters for an approximately half-cent sales tax to support its operations.
Like many medium sized and smaller fire districts, its finances currently are hand to mouth, or less so, with reserves limited. Maintaining older equipment is expensive, and new can be almost out of reach. Wages ought to be higher for full-time personnel, and more is needed to attract part-time reservists and volunteers.
The existing mill levies have limits: With the state Legislature’s action in response to homeowner pressure to reduce the increase in property taxes that came with increased property values, mill levy revenue from them will continue to be lacking.
Included with the modest sales tax request, .54%, are numerous exemptions aimed at locals. Drawing from the state’s list of possible exemptions are food for domestic use, prescriptions, machinery, farm equipment, gas, electricity and other energy for residential use and school supplies. The district’s estimate is that about three-quarters of the sales tax revenue will come from nonresidents.
The Journal’s editorial board suggests a “yes” vote. The fire district is making a good case for its needs, and it has shaped a sales tax – not a mill levy – that will go easy on residents.
The estimated $3.3 million in its first full year – which won’t begin to be collected until July 2025 – will just about double the district’s annual budget. Roughly $2 million currently comes from mill levies, $600,000 from the federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission and the balance from grants and miscellaneous sources.
Doubling is a significant increase, yes, but it is what is needed, according to Chief Roy Wilkinson, who is one year into the position after a career in fire prevention and fighting. Responders’ equipment doesn’t come from Walmart, he points out, as its ladder won’t carry the weight; almost everything on a truck has to be quality approved, and thus is fully priced. And there is no place for an older truck with an engine that stalls while providing water, Wilkinson says. That could lead to injury or death.
Montezuma County residents deserve a fire department that’s adequately equipped and staffed, and its leadership is putting forth a relatively modest way to do both. The district’s Issue 6-A deserves support.
