The Warrenton Fire Protection District is going to return to voters once again to ask for additional funding through a $10 million bond issue and a 25-cent tax increase.
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The Warrenton Fire Protection District is going to return to voters once again to ask for additional funding through a $10 million bond issue and a 25-cent tax increase. This is the 14th time in the past decade the district has placed a ballot measure in front of voters.
Each of the previous attempts have failed.
The tax increase can be passed by a simple majority while the bond issue requires a four-sevenths majority, or 57.14%.
The bond issue, Proposition Life Saving Equipment, will be used to pay for capital improvements to the district including purchasing equipment like a new fire truck.
The tax increase, Proposition Fire Safety, will be used to shore up the district’s reserves and provide the funds necessary to bring on additional firefighters to staff Station 1 around the clock.
Chief Anthony Hayeslip said the two measures are both necessary for the district to hire additional personnel and to purchase and update equipment that is desperately needed.
The district took out a tax anticipation loan in October of last year to help cover a budget shortfall that was caused by a series of unforeseen expenses including increased overtime and equipment breakdowns.
The loan was for $250,000 and carries a 5.5% interest rate over a six-month term. The district will pay roughly $13,000 in interest.
Tax anticipation loans essentially act as payday loans for municipalities and taxing entities, allowing them to receive funding sooner than tax deadlines would normally allow, to be paid back when those revenues are received.
Hayeslip downplayed any concerns about the loan saying it was a measure they had taken in the past to cover shortfalls and that he planned to make up the difference next year.
“It’s a useful tool but then it puts you short the next year, so we’ll have to really hunker down,” said Hayeslip. “We’ve done this before, where we’ve taken the loan and the next year we really hunkered down and we got away from having to take it again.”
He did concede there was a possibility that they would have to take out a similar loan again next year if they are unable to keep costs down, or the ballot measures fail.
He said the district has exhausted all other options for additional funding and has needed to make these changes for a decade.
“This is the only true answer,” said Hayeslip. “This is the only true sustainable solution to our district’s shortfalls.”
He pointed out that he had heard from some who opposed the ballot measures that they should be able to fund their needs with tax revenues as there is significant growth in the county.
Hayeslip said if that were the case other agencies would not have needed additional funding either. In November, the Wright City Fire Protection District received approval from its voters for an $11-million bond issue to fund the construction of a new fire station, among other projects.
He continued saying the district does go out for grants and they have been helpful when funding has fallen short, but they are not a tenable solution to fund the district moving forward.
“Grants are a great asset to districts like us, when we get them, but you’re in a fight with everybody else in the country in most cases, especially federal grants,” said Hayeslip.
He also said that many grants have matching requirements that the district is simply unable to meet.
Hayeslip said regardless of the ballot measures, the district is working hard to be more transparent and has been posting its financial reports on its website.
“We changed one of our tabs (on the district’s website) to a transparency portal and we’ve just started flooding all the financial reports, and budgets. I mean, we’re putting everything we can put on there,” said Hayeslip.
He added the district is working to post their board meetings on YouTube and he hoped the additional information would help convince voters to approve the ballot measures since they can see the district's financial position.
More information on the fire district and the ballot measures can be found online at https://votewarrentonfire.com/.
