JOYCE — The all-volunteer fire district for the Joyce area is asking for a 50-cent increase in its levy rate, citing financial difficulties over the past several years.
The ballots, which were mailed Jan. 20, ask for a levy lid lift for Clallam County Fire District No. 4 to 76 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation to be collected in 2011.
That means that the owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $152 in taxes each year.
The current rate is set at 26 cents per $1,000, meaning the owner of a $200,000 home pays about $52 in taxes.
Without a public vote, the district was limited to a 1 percent increase in the amount of property taxes collected per year, a restriction created by Initiative 747, which passed in 2001.
Ballots due Feb. 9
Ballots are due Feb. 9. They can be mailed or taken to the drop box at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
Because of increasing property values the rate has steadily declined, said Ben Pacheco, chairman of the board.
“We really need to get it back up to where it was before,” Pacheco said.
Pacheco said the group has used up its reserves as costs continued to rise and the amount brought in did not.
“We have an east and a west station, and there is always the possibility of having to close one of those if we find out we can’t afford to keep both running and in operation,” he said.
“The fire station is a need that helps the community, and we need to make sure that they are serviced the way that they should be.”
Pacheco said the all-volunteer group of firefighters were already stretched and that one ambulance might need to be replaced soon.
‘Smallest’ in county
“We have the smallest amount of money coming in for levies out of the whole county for fire districts,” Pacheco said.
“We have an incredible chief, and he is so overburdened that if the levy passes we might look into an administrator to help alleviate some of that, and it is extremely difficult to get someone to volunteer consistently more than 20 hours per week.”
The group has not had a levy lid lift since the first levy was passed in 1985, Pacheco said.
They unsuccessfully attempted the same levy lid lift in 2008.
“We lost that by only five votes,” he said.
“It was a real heartbreaker.”
He said the group has been working hard to get the word out about the levy.
His wife, Donna Pacheco, and many others in the Friends of the Joyce Fire District have been working to spread the word.
“Over the last few years, it has been really hard because of logging dying off, and the rising cost of gas and other expenses, it has been really difficult,” said Donna Pacheco.
“This levy is for operating the fire part of it — they also have [an emergency medical service] unit that is unfunded, and all of the first-responders are all volunteer.
“We are still the only all-volunteer fire department in the county.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.