Cabinet View FD officials explain district intent
The group of Cabinet View residents who seek to start a fire district in the old Cabinet View Fire Service Area vow transparency as it moves forward.
The group met Saturday at the Cabinet View Fire Department station, just days after mailing a flier to residents earlier in the week.
“We want to earn your support,” Spokesman John Rios told a group of 22 people who attended. “The path to this is transparency. We want to be as open and honest as we can. We want to work with the county.”
Rios, who was accompanied at the front of the room by proposed board members Patty Rambo and Mike Agresta, said the flier included a sheet explaining the fire district cost in taxes. The sheet explained the cost of the tax for a home with a market value of $100,000 would be $63.48.
Rios explained because taxes are paid backward, residents soon will see an absence of the tax for the dissolved fire service area.
Also included in the mailing was a sheet detailing the differences between a fire service area and a fire district.
Specifically, the sheet briefly stated three differences:
• A fire district ultimately will be governed by an elected board vs. a fire service area, which is governed by county commissioners.
• A fire district is funded by a mill levy imposed on all real property owners vs. a flat annual fee imposed by commissioners.
• A fire district is established by a minimum of support of 40 percent of the real property owners in the proposed fire district vs. a fire service area that can be dissolved by only 30 signatures.
The flier also included a petition sheet for signatures and a map of the expanded district, which would share the border with Fisher River at mile marker No. 52.
Rios said the petition, which has no timeline for completion, must include the names of 121 real property owners. He cautioned that if there are joint owners of a property, only one may sign the petition for it to be valid.
“We realize these are tough times, with sequestration,” Rios said. “But we’ve been upfront. Some properties will pay more with a fire district and others will pay less.”
Rios said he calculated the new tax for his home would be $127 annually, $2 more than the $125 he had been paying with the fire service area.
“What is the safety of having protection worth to you,” Rambo said. “Comparatively, it’s less than a cup of coffee a day.”
The proposed board includes Rios, Agresta and Rambo. Ron Miller would be chief, and Kaylene Mast would be assistant.
The agency is planning a drawing for an AR-15 rifle as a fundraiser. Tickets are $25 each with a maximum of just 200 tickets sold. Call Mast at 283-1011 for tickets.