ISSUE #43: VOTE "NO" ON FIRE CONSOLIDATION
The Ketchum Council wants to increase your fire taxes by 82% and get you NOTHING in return--this is crazy
I first wrote about Fire Consolidation two months ago, hoping the City would provide us with the facts to make an informed decision at the polls. Did they? No. Just as with the LOT for Housing referendum last year, they are going to the edge of blatantly lying to us to get us to do this.
Here is the sum total of information they are providing us:
a website: https://www.projectketchum.org/fire-consolidation/
a mailer (see photo above)
The mailer tells us:
“Emergencies Know No Boundaries.”
True. That is why the fire departments in the WRV work collaboratively.
“Currently, not all fire and emergency medical services (EMS) needs are being met in the Wood River Valley.”
While they provide no evidence to support the assertion, that may also be true. But are Ketchum taxpayers supposed to pay for Fire/EMS for the entire Wood River Valley?
“Independent studies that have been conducted conclude that countywide fire and EMS consolidation will help resolve this.”
Again, they don’t share the information with us, but that also sounds true. Why aren’t we allowed to see these studies? More importantly, why are they deliberately misleading us?
Every benefit they cite on the City website is for people who don’t live in Ketchum.
Every consolidation benefit cited by consultants on the City website benefits people who don’t live in Ketchum.
What are the benefits for the residents of Ketchum? They don’t say!
This is NOT a vote for countywide fire/EMS consolidation.
The ballot language is EXTREMELY MISLEADING.
“Should a fire district be formed to be called the Ketchum Fire District, comprised of the current city limits of Ketchum, with the intent to consolidate the fire departments of the Wood River Valley?”
If that is what they would do, I’d probably be for it (depending on the economics).
BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. AND THEY KNOW IT.
They will take that good intent and do something not good with it.
The new fire district will combine the Ketchum Fire Department, Wood River Fire & Rescue, West Magic Fire District, and Smiley Creek Rural Fire Protection District. Then, to bail out those other districts, they will raise our fire taxes by 82%. That’s the bottom line.
Carey, Picabo, North Blaine, Hailey, Bellevue, and Sun Valley fire departments? They are NOT part of this deal. Why not? What do they know that we don’t know?
Why isn’t that made clear in ANY of the City materials? Why are they hiding that the fire departments that matter will not play along with Ketchum? And why do they think naming it the new “Ketchum Fire District” district will compel the other WRV cities to consolidate?
82% Increase in Your Fire/EMS Tax—IT COULD BE MORE
What will really happen is that Ketchum taxpayers will see AT LEAST an 82% tax increase, and the incremental money will go OUTSIDE of the City of Ketchum—NO benefit to Ketchum taxpayers. Your taxes go UP. You get nothing in return.
How do we know the taxes go up 82%? Because they tell us. Kind of.
They try to minimize the tax increase by burying the math in the fine print: a $21.52 increase per $100,000 in value. Given that the average property in Ketchum is worth over $1mm, that is more than $200 per household per year in tax increases sent outside of Ketchum.
HOW IS THIS EVEN LEGAL?
Why is the Ketchum City Council doing this? This is yet another step by our City Council to try to pick up the bill for other areas in Blaine County, just like they are doing with the Housing Action Plan.
Let’s summarize…
If you vote “yes” on this initiative, your property taxes devoted to your fire protection will go from $26.38 per $100,000 of taxable property value to $47.90. Your fire tax will increase by 82%. What? Will your services improve by 82%? Uh, no.
But it gets worse.
The Wood River Fire Department has been trying to build a new firehouse. Twice, the referendum for a bond to pay for it has failed. If the November referendum for consolidation is passed, if Wood River needs a new station, the referendum will go to the newly consolidated fire district for approval. That means Ketchum taxpayers would potentially pick up the lion’s share of that as part of the larger district.10
Guess how much of Ketchum's taxpayer obligation to repay the $11mm bond for its recently built firehouse will be transferred to the new fire district? Zero.
A “yes” vote is to gift money to West Magic and the County residents. Not just once. Every year. Forever.
How Do We Keep Getting Fleeced Like This?
What cost/benefit analysis did your City Council do before unanimously voting to approve putting this on the ballot?11 How did they devise their proposal for where the mil rate for Ketchum would be set?12
In the grand scheme of humanity, it may be a social good for Ketchum locals, second homeowners, and Airbnb investors to pick up the costs for fire services in West Magic and Blaine County. Council Member Cordvano put it clearly:
“I see it as a contribution from Ketchum to the valley, and I see it as we happen to be the bank,” he said. “The question I pose to the residents of Ketchum is, ‘Are you okay with this contribution?’” he said.”13
Read that again: “[w]e happen to be the bank.” That is a fair summary of how your Council sees you.
Your elected officials think it’s a good idea for the Warms Springs and West Ketch locals who barely hang on in Ketchum to pick up the fire tab for the Valley Club, Greenhorn Gulch, and Flying Heart residents.
“Are you okay with this contribution?” Mr. Cordovano asks of us. Me? No! You?
I also know a ton about this subject and my hot point is that the City of Ketchum thinks "giving back" 50% of the current fire/ems income line while offloading 100% of the costs "seems about right". There is zero justification for not crediting Ketchum tax payers 100% of the offset. This extra $900,000 of revenue will become completely discretionary and can include parking ticket services, bike lane striping, dog park monitors, etc. This is a very creative way to get around voting for tax increases greater than 3%. If it was really about better EMS for the valley, Ketchum would not have pulled the ambulance out of the Greenhorn station for political reasons.
Tom, It's been a clearly expressed goal to increase minimum staffing & I'm glad you recognize that & can agree on it's importance. I'm seeing a few outspoken people who want their opinions to have more weight than the people who actually do the job, to count more than the people who've put in countless hours of data input, budget calculations, and best practices research. Is there a cost to moving the delivery of emergency services to the level our citizens deserve? Yes, it also achieves the agreed upon conclusion of 3 expert consultant firms. Most importantly, it's the way to increase safety for our citizens, visitors, & first responders.
Interestingly enough, the loudest critics are the ones who just 2 short years ago were proclaiming that consolidation was necessary & urgent. What changed? The departments involved, that's what. As firefighters, we recognize the need for consolidation and we can't let politicians with not-so hidden agendas stand in the way of public safety any longer. This is a step that needs to be taken. It's not a final step by any means, but the first important one we can take.