News
ENLARGE
With the fall election on people's minds, this week the Snowmass Sun asked Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District's Chief Steve Sowles, and Fire Marshal, John Mele, for more information about why they are seeking tax increases in November. Their responses to commonly asked questions follow:
Snowmass Sun: What are the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District's ballot questions going to ask for this fall?
Fire District: The first ballot question is a .0001 increase to offset Proposition 101 (which is the car registration fee and “deBrucing” measure), this equates to an approximately $75,000 loss to the District should 101pass. On the big picture scale, this is a smaller impact to the District but would still equate to one full time paramedic/firefighter position.
The second question is a 1.803 increase to sustain current levels of funding that Amendment 60 would eliminate. It is important to know that we had independent auditors review and calculate the cost of impacts to the District to be accurate. All told we would lose $1.287 million annually from our budget (employee budget is $1.1 million annually) and we would have to revert to funding levels of 1993.
The growth of Snowmass Village has been considerable since 1993. The emergency response capabilities and expectations of Snowmass Village residents and guests has surpassed the ability to adequately respond with properly trained volunteers within any reasonable life saving time-frame.
Our emergency medical and fire response times currently are within four or five minutes with dual trained personnel that are paramedics (advanced life saving) and state certified firefighters.
SS: Would services need to be cut if 101, 60 and 61 pass and your measures fail?
FD: Yes. Should these state ballot measures pass, the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District will be forced to eliminate the paramedic and firefighter workforce. Prop. 101 and Amendment 60 reduces the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District's operating budget by 55 percent. This would force the district to “layoff” most all of the essential advanced-life support emergency medical and firefighter responders. Your ambulance service, as you currently know it, will cease to exist.
SS: How would the passage of Amendment 61 affect the district's operations?
FD: In essence, Amendment 61 prohibits all levels of government from entering into any bonding or lease purchasing agreements without first gaining voter approval. It also requires a complete pay back of these agreements within 10 years. This 10–year restriction extremely limits any cost saving abilities of the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District to responsibly plan for large or small fiscal purchases, such as replacing older ambulances and fire engines or even something as simple as an office copy machine. This ultimately makes everything more expensive for the taxpayer.
Any large scale bonding requests exceeding the fire district's normal budget have always sought voter approval and will continue to do so. The defeat of Amendment 61 will allow the Snowmass–Wildcat Fire Protection District, as it has in the past, to pursue better financial options, cost saving lease purchase considerations and a longer time frame for potential bond funding that is beyond a 10-year limit should larger scale goals be approved by the taxpayer.
SS: What is the current staffing level in the District? How many people (including full-time, part-time and visitors) does it currently serve? How many miles does the District span?
FD: Current staffing levels are four full–time paramedic/firefighters with one resident daily. This is far less than NFPA Standards require. The administrative staff are comprised of an administrative assistant, fire marshal, fire inspector and fire chief.
The Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District is currently 21 square miles. The Town of Snowmass Village is just a portion of the District.
SS: Would the tax increases still go into effect if 60, 61 and 101 go down in defeat?
FD: Our tax increase measures do not increase our funding whatsoever, it just keeps us current at today's level, and become moot if the state measures fail…it's in the ballot wording. (In addition), the District's currently proposed ballot measures are designed to keep your medical and emergency response at their current levels and not subject to the debilitating budget cuts that the passage of the proposed state-wide measures will necessitate. Any request to increase taxes on the property owners within the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District for emergency services will always be clearly requested and explained in any future election measures.
SS: Can local voters just choose “no” on 60, 61 and 101 to defeat the measures and keep the District intact?
FD: This is a case where the Snowmass voters do not control their own destiny in the matter. Even if every eligible voter in the Snowmass Village voted “no” to defeat the measures, the fact is that the state-wide measures could still pass in the Front Range and elsewhere in the state, forcing the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District to eliminate emergency services locally.
SS: Doesn't a past vote to “DeBruce” the district from Tabor make this unnecessary?
FD: The voters in Snowmass Village did positively vote to “DeBruce” from the Tabor Amendment in 1998. However, new wording in the state-wide measure contained in proposed Amendment 61 ignores the voter's prior wishes and would now require you to “revote” on this very issue again and then every four years.
Snowmass Sun: What are the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District's ballot questions going to ask for this fall?
Fire District: The first ballot question is a .0001 increase to offset Proposition 101 (which is the car registration fee and “deBrucing” measure), this equates to an approximately $75,000 loss to the District should 101pass. On the big picture scale, this is a smaller impact to the District but would still equate to one full time paramedic/firefighter position.
The second question is a 1.803 increase to sustain current levels of funding that Amendment 60 would eliminate. It is important to know that we had independent auditors review and calculate the cost of impacts to the District to be accurate. All told we would lose $1.287 million annually from our budget (employee budget is $1.1 million annually) and we would have to revert to funding levels of 1993.
The growth of Snowmass Village has been considerable since 1993. The emergency response capabilities and expectations of Snowmass Village residents and guests has surpassed the ability to adequately respond with properly trained volunteers within any reasonable life saving time-frame.
Our emergency medical and fire response times currently are within four or five minutes with dual trained personnel that are paramedics (advanced life saving) and state certified firefighters.
SS: Would services need to be cut if 101, 60 and 61 pass and your measures fail?
FD: Yes. Should these state ballot measures pass, the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District will be forced to eliminate the paramedic and firefighter workforce. Prop. 101 and Amendment 60 reduces the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District's operating budget by 55 percent. This would force the district to “layoff” most all of the essential advanced-life support emergency medical and firefighter responders. Your ambulance service, as you currently know it, will cease to exist.
SS: How would the passage of Amendment 61 affect the district's operations?
FD: In essence, Amendment 61 prohibits all levels of government from entering into any bonding or lease purchasing agreements without first gaining voter approval. It also requires a complete pay back of these agreements within 10 years. This 10–year restriction extremely limits any cost saving abilities of the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District to responsibly plan for large or small fiscal purchases, such as replacing older ambulances and fire engines or even something as simple as an office copy machine. This ultimately makes everything more expensive for the taxpayer.
Any large scale bonding requests exceeding the fire district's normal budget have always sought voter approval and will continue to do so. The defeat of Amendment 61 will allow the Snowmass–Wildcat Fire Protection District, as it has in the past, to pursue better financial options, cost saving lease purchase considerations and a longer time frame for potential bond funding that is beyond a 10-year limit should larger scale goals be approved by the taxpayer.
SS: What is the current staffing level in the District? How many people (including full-time, part-time and visitors) does it currently serve? How many miles does the District span?
FD: Current staffing levels are four full–time paramedic/firefighters with one resident daily. This is far less than NFPA Standards require. The administrative staff are comprised of an administrative assistant, fire marshal, fire inspector and fire chief.
The Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District is currently 21 square miles. The Town of Snowmass Village is just a portion of the District.
SS: Would the tax increases still go into effect if 60, 61 and 101 go down in defeat?
FD: Our tax increase measures do not increase our funding whatsoever, it just keeps us current at today's level, and become moot if the state measures fail…it's in the ballot wording. (In addition), the District's currently proposed ballot measures are designed to keep your medical and emergency response at their current levels and not subject to the debilitating budget cuts that the passage of the proposed state-wide measures will necessitate. Any request to increase taxes on the property owners within the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District for emergency services will always be clearly requested and explained in any future election measures.
SS: Can local voters just choose “no” on 60, 61 and 101 to defeat the measures and keep the District intact?
FD: This is a case where the Snowmass voters do not control their own destiny in the matter. Even if every eligible voter in the Snowmass Village voted “no” to defeat the measures, the fact is that the state-wide measures could still pass in the Front Range and elsewhere in the state, forcing the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire Protection District to eliminate emergency services locally.
SS: Doesn't a past vote to “DeBruce” the district from Tabor make this unnecessary?
FD: The voters in Snowmass Village did positively vote to “DeBruce” from the Tabor Amendment in 1998. However, new wording in the state-wide measure contained in proposed Amendment 61 ignores the voter's prior wishes and would now require you to “revote” on this very issue again and then every four years.
