By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
YACHATS – The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District will have to take out another bank loan this summer to help make ends meet, following the defeat of a proposed tax levy by voters last November.
The need for a “bridge” loan – which the district has done for the past four years – came up during the district’s first budget committee meeting last week when administrator Frankie Petrick presented a proposed $1.358 million budget for 2022-23.
The district has used bank loans to cover operating expenses from late spring to November since 2018-19 as rising costs outpaced revenue from property taxes. It has borrowed money in the spring and then repaid the load in November or December after property taxes arrive – and then repeated the process the next year.
The district got a one-year reprieve from the loan cycle this fiscal year when it used $338,000 from the sale of its old fire station in downtown Yachats to pay off the current loan instead of using property taxes. Yachats Fire does not have a cash carryover to tide it through the 4-6 spring and summer months when property taxes run out. The loan also costs the district about $25,000 a year in interest charges.
The fire board had hoped a proposed, much higher property tax levy would have solved that issue last November, but voters turned it down — the first such defeat in the district’s 73-year history.
The board is planning to ask voters again this November to approve a levy, but have been wrestling with what it needs, what voters may approve and how to better get the word out. It hopes to decide on an amount after its second budget committee meeting May 23.
But even if voters approve a new levy in November, the district wouldn’t get any of those taxes for a year – necessitating another bare bones budget and another bank loan.
The biggest increase in costs – as expected – are for staffing. The district has budgeted positions for six firefighters, two administrators and a half-time office assistant. Wages, medical insurance, retirement contributions and other employee-related costs are forecast to increase from $861,300 this fiscal year to $1.01 million in 2022-23.
In addition to big increases in medical insurance and retirement, the budget accounts for at least a 6 percent cost-of-living increase for firefighters. Everyone but Petrick received a 6 percent increase in December and board member Ed Hallahan indicated last week he may seek another 2.5 to 3 percent increase before June to keep up with rapidly rising inflation.
“We’re at risk of losing personnel because we’re paying less than they could get elsewhere,” Petrick told the budget committee.
That’s already the case. The department is down one firefighter/EMT and filling in that position with overtime and by using firefighters from other departments. But Yachats Fire is also down to just two paramedics, which puts a strain on properly staffing South Lincoln Ambulance because a paramedic is required to oversee an emergency medical technician.
The district is also competing for personnel with local departments who are hiring, ranging from Newport, to North Lincoln Fire & Rescue to a new, large and well-funded department started by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
“There’s a vortex sucking everyone into the valley,” assistant administrator Shelby Knife told the board. “It’s not a housing issue, it’s a pay and support issue.”
Board member Drew Tracy asked Knife to assemble rates of pay for other coastal departments, including those covered by union contracts.
“We have to be consistent with everybody else,” Tracy said. “We need to maintain our personnel and the expertise.”
Otherwise, Petrick’s proposed budget has not a lot of wiggle room anywhere in it.
There is just $10,000 in a contingency fund and $22,000 for equipment purchases and repairs – well below what other fire departments or local governments have in those categories.
“It’s not very much money to work with,” said Rick McClung, water and streets supervisor for the city of Yachats and a new budget committee member.
To see the proposed budget and budget message go here
