By Corey Rux

Montesano Fire Department

Seeking to maintain critical, lifesaving public safety services, the Montesano City Council unanimously approved a levy lid lift to support Fire Safety and Emergency Medical Services.

The measure will appear on a special election ballot on Feb. 14, 2017.

If approved, the proposition would maintain current levels of service by creating a long-term funding source for fire operations and replace critical fire and medical equipment that has met or exceeded its service life.

For several years the Montesano fire department has been plagued with budget deficits and debt service obligation. The proposed levy will enable the department to continue to provide lifesaving services to the citizens of Montesano while no longer relying on inter-fund loans, EMS subsidies and other stop-gap measures to balance the fire operations budget.

In addition to budget shortfalls, the fire department has several pieces of critical equipment that have exceeded their service life including a fire engine, two ambulances, four monitor/defibrillators, fire protective clothing (bunker gear) and communication equipment (pagers/radios).

This equipment is critical to effectively and safely providing emergency services to the people of Montesano. Without this equipment, the department cannot perform to the high standard our residents expect and deserve.

The department has sought alternative funding sources for equipment replacement, however those attempts have been unsuccessful.

The ballot measure is based on a 10-year term and would cost taxpayers .9464 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

For more information, please join Fire Chief Corey Rux and CFO Doug Streeter for a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. on Jan. 25 or Feb. 8 at City Hall.

Corey Rux is the fire chief for the Montesano Fire Department.