News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
In the wake of the passage of Measure 47, the tax roll back initiative, the district has canceled all planned hiring and has suspended construction of a new mini-station that was to service the northeast Squaw Creek area of the district.
According to Greg Brown, chairman of the district's board of directors, the district is now waiting for the legislature to determine the impacts of Measure 47 on public safety operations.
Sisters area voters passed an increased tax base in May of 1996. The new tax base of $850,000 was to provide funds for equipment upgrades, the construction of the Squaw Creek mini-station and the hiring of four additional paramedics. The tax base would have grown to $901,000 with the 6 percent annual growth allowed by law.
Measure 47 changed all that. The mandated roll back to 1994 taxes or 1995's taxes less 10 percent are projected to drop the district's tax base to $486,000, according to figures from the Department of Revenue provided to Brown. The initiative also restricts growth, Brown noted.
Brown expects the district to hold on to it's current staffing level, with a chief, three paid paramedics and a force of volunteers. With that staff level there is generally at least one fire medic on duty at Sisters Firehall, sometimes more. The staff increase would have allowed two full time medics to be on duty at all times.
Without the staff increase, the department will continue to rely on volunteers, who, Brown emphasized, are the key element in the district's service. But volunteers can't always be close on a call, which means response times can sometimes be delayed 10 or more minutes.
Volunteers are also subject to ever-increasing training requirements, which can become a burden on someone who also has to make a living..
Still, Brown acknowledged, the district's response and level of service is good considering the semi-rural nature of the area. He believes that, for the time being, the district can keep up its current level of service, though in the worst case scenario expenses could outstrip the district's ability to fund its services.
Brown expressed some frustration that taxpayers enthusiasm for cutting taxes is hampering services those same taxpayers say they want.
"I don't think (Measure 47) was about public safety or education," Brown said. "I think it was about cutting taxes. Maybe it was about forcing the legislature to come up with a better tax system."
Whatever the case, Brown thinks citizens should be more involved in finding out what their tax dollars are doing.
"I would love to see a roomful of people (at the district budget meetings) asking where their tax money goes and what we're doing with it," Brown said. "Nobody ever shows up."
Several positions on the district's board of directors are up for reelection. As of January 10, only the present directors had filed for any of the positions.
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