||| FROM ROBERT DISTLER |||
All of us here on Orcas expect and need a well-functioning fire and rescue department, with capable and compassionate staff and volunteers at the ready 24/7. Whether it’s EMTs or fire fighters, in an emergency we all deserve the service levels we’ve come to expect.
Soon to be presented to islanders will be a planned levy of 77 cents per thousand dollars’ valuation—an amount that is only 24 cents above the existing 53-cent levy you see on this year’s property tax bills. This proposal is for a five-year duration, after which voters will again be able to judge whether the department is prudently budgeting and managing its operation to maintain necessary service levels.
The 24 cents will allow our fire department to restore 2023’s staffing which will in turn continue to provide the existing service that we have experienced.
Join me in voting YES on the Fire/EMS levy. It’s the Orcas Island thing to do.
When is enough enough? I already pay over $800/yr in taxes to the Fire department and you are suggesting that raising that to $1200/yr is a good idea? Does it really take that much to have an ambulance take you to the airport to be helicoptered to the hospital? How many firetrucks does it take to keep the woods from catching on fire if your house burns? ‘Cause don’t kid yourself that your house will be saved if it catches fire; it won’t. Best case is they might keep the fire from spreading. At some point we need to say enough is enough. OIFD has PLENTY of tax revenue to do the job for which it is intended. What it does not have the money for is bloated salaries for administrators and a fleet of new overpriced vehicles with every new overpriced gizmo attached. I urge everyone that has worked hard for their money and lives within a realistic budget to demand the same of the fire department. Vote NO on the levy!