By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle
WALDPORT – Six months ago voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed tax increase to help cash-strapped Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue district make ends meet.
The seeming message – make do with what you have.
But fire district officials say it can no longer do that – not at current staffing and service levels and they are making that abundantly clear as they reach out to the district’s 3,242 voters to again ask for the 60 cent levy increase for operations that was shot down in November.
Ballots were mailed Wednesday and are due back to the Lincoln County clerk’s office by 8 p.m. May 20. Voter pamphlets have also been mailed to households of registered voters in the county.
“Should this measure fail, the district will be forced to remove nearly 50 percent of the staffing resulting in a reduction of services such as EMS responses, fire prevention programs and non-emergency service calls,” the district said in information provided for the Lincoln County voters’ pamphlet. “The quality of service will be affected due to a loss of personnel and operational funding.”
The district’s statement also says if the measure fails it may result in homeowners paying higher premiums for fire insurance because the district’s public protection classification or Insurance Services Office rating could drop.
The messaging did not seem as dire when voters soundly defeated the proposed operating levy increase – from $1.27 to $1.87 – last November by a 2-1 ratio 766 to 1,495.
So what changed?
The closer the district gets to the end of the 2025-26 budget year, the closer it gets to the expiration of the current $1.27 operating levy, said COCF&R chief Jamie Mason.
“So yes, in November our messaging wasn’t as dire,” Mason said. “We were hoping with the support of the community that the levy would be successful. And we didn’t have to go into the detail of how this would affect personnel, jobs and services in the community.
“As we get closer and closer to that expiration date, we’re forced to bring out the seriousness of how much this levy affects the services of the fire district and its personnel. So more and more information is going to come out,” he said. “What we don’t want to do is get accused of trying to use fear tactics when they are actually facts.”
Four of COCF&R’s nine member staff — three firefighters and one administrative position — have already been given notice of their likely layoff on May 24 if the levy does not pass.
If the levy fails, there will be one firefighter on duty, something the district has previously deemed unsafe, who will wait for volunteers to arrive, resulting in a longer response time, Mason said. Medical calls are also likely to be scaled back and responded to with one person who will need to rely on volunteers – if available – to follow.
“But fires and big emergencies, the one firefighter will pull the vehicle out on the ramp and then wait for volunteers to show up,” Mason said. “And then if no volunteers show up, then they’ve got to make a risk versus benefit decision on whether to respond alone or not.”
By the numbers
The district currently operates on a $1.68 million general fund budget. From that it pays approximately $966,000 in wages, benefits and associated costs.
District residents who own property assessed at $250,000 currently pay $610 a year in property taxes to support the fire district. If the asked for 60 cents increase is approved in the May 20 election, those same property owners would instead pay $760.
The $610 property owners currently pay breaks down as follows:
- A permanent tax rate of 82 cents per $1,000 on assessed property value. The rate was set in 1998 when Waldport eliminated its fire department and the district was established.
- A 35 cents operations levy per $1,000 assessed value that expires in 2027. Voters increased it by 10 cents to its current 35 cents in 2022.
- An operational levy of $1.27 that voters approved in 2016. It expires at the end of May 2026.
Measure 21-233 is asking to add 60 cents to that $1.27 and extend it at $1.87 for five years. Property owners would see the increase on their November tax bills. If approved the increase would raise approximately $299,000 in operating funds for the next fiscal year, 2025-26.
The increase in funds would not only stabilize staffing but also help to maintain and upgrade equipment as required by state and national fire standards as well as provide for future projects and new equipment as needed, according to the district.
The district “has been operating under the same levy since 2015, providing the emergency services you have come to expect, despite increasing inflationary pressure,” the district states in its voters’ pamphlet statement. “The approval of this measure will bring the district’s budget to a more appropriate level to maintain the staffing and equipment for our firefighters and emergency personnel.”
In opposition
While there are three arguments in favor of Measure 21-233 in the voters’ pamphlet, there is also an argument in opposition that was submitted by Put Out the Fire PAC and Todd Holt of Waldport.
Holt is a former COCF&R board member who voters recalled along with another board member in 2022 after less than a year in office after clashing over projects, personnel, an intergovernmental agreement with the Seal Rock Fire District and an unsuccessful attempt to fire Mason. He also submitted information opposing the November levy.
Holt’s statement claims the district and Mason have no financial plan and disputes the district’s numbers with different ones of his own. It also states the district has no volunteers and highlights what are believed to be questionable expenditures.
The district disputes nearly all of Holt’s statement as inaccurate or misleading.
COCF&R board member Jon MacCulloch filed a complaint with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Election Division in April saying the information submitted by Holt included “false statements.” MacCulloch requested an investigation into the statements and into the Put Out the Fire political action committee, which he claimed “appears to be unsanctioned and not registered with the state as required by law.”
The elections division confirmed with the Lincoln Chronicle that it had received MacCulloch’s single complaint and no others.
Tess Seger, deputy chief of staff for communications at the secretary of state’s office, said in an email to the Chronicle the allegation that the Put Out the Fire committee is not registered with the state “is currently under investigation.”
Seger said the allegation of false statements was declined for investigation based on two Oregon laws which only apply to required portions of the voters’ pamphlet and does not include measure arguments. However, Seger said, MacCulloch, the fire district board or the district still has the option to pursue civil action in Lincoln County circuit court.
Whether voters will do an about-face and approve the increase in funding for the district remains to be seen. But COCF&R firefighters, union representatives and board members have been campaigning regularly for the measure’s passage on social media and with public presentations.
If the measure fails, Mason said the district would have two more opportunities to present its case to the public – again in November and a final time in May 2026. But by then, the four staffers will still be gone.
“My hope is that the community members do their research, ask questions and get the information they need to make an informed vote,” he said.
- Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for the Lincoln Chronicle, formerly YachatsNews, and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
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