YACHATS – The budget committee and board of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District this week approved a general fund budget of $2 million for fiscal 2023-24 that begins July 1.
The budget is the first that will take advantage of a new, larger tax levy that voters approved last November. The district will begin receiving funds from the new levy once residents begin paying property taxes this fall. The levy of $1.59 per $1,000 assessed property value was approved by voters last November and replaces a 59 cent levy that expires June 30.
The combination of the new levy, an existing 61 cent levy and a 29 cent permanent tax base is expected to bring in $1.6 million.
For the first time in years the district is expected to have a substantial ending balance of $350,000 next June 30, when the 2023-24 fiscal year ends, according to the proposed budget. The expected fund balance by the end of this June is $85,000.
At the urging of Yachats River Road resident Katrina Wynne, the only directive Monday from the budget committee was to ask the board to purchase 1-2 submersible or floating pumps to have at the ready should firefighters need them to pull water from the Yachats River or elsewhere. Wynne’s suggestion was part of her urging the district to work quicker on specific plans to fight fires in the Yachats River valley, including how it would get equipment across small bridges or through the covered bridge on the west edge of her property.
District assistant administrator Shelby Knife said all of Yachat Fire’s engines or tenders have the capability to draft water out of streams or portable water containers.
Other highlights of the budget include:
- Wages for six firefighter/medics, two administrators and a part-time clerk would increase by $40,000 to $670,000 under yearly raises and a cost of living increase of up to 6 percent. The current inflation rate is 4 percent.
- The budget for building and ground maintenance is proposed to increase by $20,000 to $27,000;
- The budget anticipates borrowing up to $310,000 to pay the district’s bills between July and November, an increase from $138,200 in loans it needed this fiscal year;
- Adding $22,400 to the district’s reserve fund for equipment for a total of $30,446 in 2023-24.
- The district still has $632,000 in the bank from a $7.7 million bond approved by voters in 2016 to build its new fire station. The budget proposes spending $200,000 to build fences – if they are requested by neighbors to the north and south – as part of the Lincoln County conditional use permit approved when the district build the new station.
— Quinton Smith/YachatsNews
