The Warrenton Fire Protection District will ask voters on Aug. 4 to approve a half-cent sales tax to help end the district’s funding woes.

Fire Chief Anthony Hayeslip said the fire district has depleted its reserves, cut its budget to be revenue neutral, and sold unused equipment in order to meet the district’s needs. But faced with operating costs that are growing faster than property tax revenue each year, Hayeslip said the district needs new support.

“We needed a tax increase years ago, and we’ve just struggled,” said Hayeslip, who took over as chief in 2019. “I’ve cut out training, I’ve cut out everything out of the budget that I could cut to try to help us stay ahead.”

The proposed sales tax would add a half-cent to every $1 of purchases within the fire district, which includes Warrenton, Truesdale and Pendleton. For a $100 purchase, that would be a 50 cent tax.

However, state law also requires the fire district to partially reduce its property tax levy the year after it begins collecting sales tax.

If the sales tax passes, Hayeslip estimates it would generate over $800,000 in 2021.

If that happens, the following year, the fire district would reduce its property tax collection by $400,000 district-wide, cutting its property tax rate by over one-third, Hayeslip said.

He said the district has listened to feedback from residents who oppose a property tax increase, and believes a sales tax would be a more fair funding mechanism.

“Every single soul that comes into this district who makes a purchase is helping to pay for fire protection,” Hayeslip commented. “As it stands right now, unless you’re a property owner, you don’t pay anything to the fire tax. By doing this, everybody pays, and the property owners get a little bit back.”

Hayeslip said the district’s current annual budget is $1.2 million, split between the cost of maintaining multiple fire stations and fire engines, staff salaries and equipment for paid staff and volunteers.

Growth in the community and the number of emergency calls each year adds more strain to the district’s manpower, Hayeslip said, with more emergency calls that overlap with one another and require aid from other districts. He said implementing a sales tax would turn that growth into an advantage.

“This will help us stay in pace with the growth of the community and the demand for service,” Hayeslip said. “As (sales tax) grows, we can add more staffing.”

He added that the extra revenue would also allow the district to pay for training and equipment for new volunteer firefighters as well, which Hayeslip said costs thousands of dollars even without salary. Right now, the district doesn’t have any money for that, he said.

Multiple property tax increases for the Warrenton Fire Protection District have been rejected by voters in recent years. In 2014 and 2016, the district sought a 15-cent levy increase on real estate and personal property to provide more professional firefighters and help fund the district’s operations. The initiative was in response to decreased volunteer firefighter turnout and increasing call volumes.

Both tax proposals were rejected, but the district eventually decided to hire enough firefighters to provide 24/7 coverage, with volunteers playing a supporting role.

In 2018, the district once again sought a tax increase, this time 37 cents, to double its professional staff and have two crews on shift to handle overlapping calls. That proposal was rejected by almost a 2-1 margin.