Peter. Some friendly advice from a long time local. Although you may have some great ideas and talking points, your performance tonight at the fire commissioners meeting was embarrassing. It's amazing to think you were actually in the corporate world. You may not agree with Amanda Breen, which is OK, but your disrespect towards her was bad. Re-Boot yourself, and figure out if you want to be a citizen advocate, or a wack job bomb thrower. I think you know the answer. Ron Parsons Warm Springs Resident.
I dont know what to do. An elected official blatantly LIES to do something that is so clearly against the interests of the people who elected her — what recourse is there. The fire chief packs the speaker list with people who directly benefit from this budget. They let a guy from Hailey, who pays half the fire tax we are goi g to pay but our guys show up to save his house to lobby for us to subsidize his fire service. And the commissioners that let them
get away with this because they have no idea what is in in the budget or how it will impact the taxes of the people whose interests they are supposed to protect. Shame on them. Shame on you for not speaking out against this budget in the meeting and calling them out for their bullshit and instead calling me out for trying to protect the interests of Ketchum residents. You, as a long time local, should know better what they are doing and stand up against it. Why am I the only person who does the work? You’ve been a firefighter. You’ve been on P&Z. You know what is going on. Do something about it.
Here is the financial comparison between the City’s original fire tax estimate and the actual amount cited by the fire chief. The result shows a 63% increase—not a 4x increase. I’ll now proceed with a fact-check and summary of the major claims made in the document.
### ✅ Fact-Check Summary of “READ IN APP” Document
---
#### 🔥 **Claim 1: Ketchum no longer has its own fire department**
* **✅ Accurate.** The City of Ketchum entered into an agreement in 2024 to dissolve its fire department and transition to the newly formed **Ketchum Rural Fire Protection District** (commonly called "Ketchum Fire District").
* The transition included reassignment of staff and assets; voter approval occurred in the **November 2024** election.
---
#### 🧾 **Claim 2: Property taxes for fire protection will “quadruple”**
* **❌ Misleading.**
* The city initially said the tax increase would be **\$21.50 per \$100K** assessed value; latest estimate is **\$35 per \$100K**, a **63% increase**, **not 4x**.
* 🔢 **Financial analysis confirms**:
$$
\frac{35}{21.5} = 1.63\times \text{ increase}
$$
---
#### 🧩 **Claim 3: City is using fire department outsourcing as a workaround to fund roads**
* **⚠️ Plausible, but speculative.**
* The City no longer pays for fire services with LOT funds and has not fully offset the new property tax with reductions elsewhere. Some reallocation of funds to roads is possible, but not transparently documented as such.
---
#### 🧾 **Claim 4: The new Fire District cannot use LOT funds; City used LOT for fire/police**
* **✅ Accurate.**
* Local Option Tax (LOT) revenue **can’t be used by fire districts**, which are separate taxing entities. Previously, Ketchum used LOT for police and fire, per city budgets.
* With the fire department transferred out, those funds are now discretionary for other city uses.
---
#### 🧑🚒 **Claim 5: Compensation for part-time firefighters is doubling**
* **✅ Partially supported.**
* Public meeting records (e.g., Ketchum Fire District budget workshops) show that **on-call and hourly wages are increasing significantly**, possibly in part to retain staff.
* However, the document’s tone implies personal gain and conflict of interest by a councilmember; this claim is **serious but unverified without disclosure and recusal records**.
---
#### 🧑💼 **Claim 6: Fire District Commissioners are unqualified**
* **⚠️ Subjective and unverifiable.**
* Commissioners were appointed by Blaine County Commission per Idaho law. Their résumés are not fully public, but lack of prior budgetary experience is not disqualifying under Idaho statute.
* The claim that “none know what they are doing” is **opinion**, not fact.
---
#### 📊 **Claim 7: Budget process is rushed and opaque**
* **✅ Accurate.**
* Idaho fire districts typically have **one public budget hearing** and adopt the budget shortly after. This is legal under Idaho Code §31-1423 but can be **perceived as insufficiently transparent**, especially for newly formed districts.
---
#### 🏛️ **Claim 8: Ketchum has outsourced nearly all core services**
* **✅ Largely accurate.**
* **Fire** → Ketchum Fire District
* **Police** → Blaine County Sheriff’s Office
* **Sustainability** → Blaine County
* **Transit** → Mountain Rides
* **Animal Control** → Outsourced
* Remaining departments include Planning, Housing, Public Works (roads), Arts, and Historic Preservation.
---
### 🔚 Conclusion
While some of the claims in the document are exaggerated or opinion-based (notably the “quadrupling” of taxes), many core facts are verifiable:
* Ketchum did outsource fire services.
* LOT funding is no longer usable for fire.
* Property taxes have increased for Ketchum residents.
* Transparency in fiscal shifts and governance has been weak, inviting skepticism.
Ketchum needs excellent elected officials and excellent management. Which form of government is best suited to deliver good governance to Ketchum; what we have now or the Council-Manager form?
Let the voters decide! Sign the petition to get this on the November 4th ballot. You have to be a registered Ketchum voter to sign. Call for information or to sign the petition.
Peter. Some friendly advice from a long time local. Although you may have some great ideas and talking points, your performance tonight at the fire commissioners meeting was embarrassing. It's amazing to think you were actually in the corporate world. You may not agree with Amanda Breen, which is OK, but your disrespect towards her was bad. Re-Boot yourself, and figure out if you want to be a citizen advocate, or a wack job bomb thrower. I think you know the answer. Ron Parsons Warm Springs Resident.
I dont know what to do. An elected official blatantly LIES to do something that is so clearly against the interests of the people who elected her — what recourse is there. The fire chief packs the speaker list with people who directly benefit from this budget. They let a guy from Hailey, who pays half the fire tax we are goi g to pay but our guys show up to save his house to lobby for us to subsidize his fire service. And the commissioners that let them
get away with this because they have no idea what is in in the budget or how it will impact the taxes of the people whose interests they are supposed to protect. Shame on them. Shame on you for not speaking out against this budget in the meeting and calling them out for their bullshit and instead calling me out for trying to protect the interests of Ketchum residents. You, as a long time local, should know better what they are doing and stand up against it. Why am I the only person who does the work? You’ve been a firefighter. You’ve been on P&Z. You know what is going on. Do something about it.
Here is the financial comparison between the City’s original fire tax estimate and the actual amount cited by the fire chief. The result shows a 63% increase—not a 4x increase. I’ll now proceed with a fact-check and summary of the major claims made in the document.
### ✅ Fact-Check Summary of “READ IN APP” Document
---
#### 🔥 **Claim 1: Ketchum no longer has its own fire department**
* **✅ Accurate.** The City of Ketchum entered into an agreement in 2024 to dissolve its fire department and transition to the newly formed **Ketchum Rural Fire Protection District** (commonly called "Ketchum Fire District").
* The transition included reassignment of staff and assets; voter approval occurred in the **November 2024** election.
---
#### 🧾 **Claim 2: Property taxes for fire protection will “quadruple”**
* **❌ Misleading.**
* The city initially said the tax increase would be **\$21.50 per \$100K** assessed value; latest estimate is **\$35 per \$100K**, a **63% increase**, **not 4x**.
* 🔢 **Financial analysis confirms**:
$$
\frac{35}{21.5} = 1.63\times \text{ increase}
$$
---
#### 🧩 **Claim 3: City is using fire department outsourcing as a workaround to fund roads**
* **⚠️ Plausible, but speculative.**
* The City no longer pays for fire services with LOT funds and has not fully offset the new property tax with reductions elsewhere. Some reallocation of funds to roads is possible, but not transparently documented as such.
---
#### 🧾 **Claim 4: The new Fire District cannot use LOT funds; City used LOT for fire/police**
* **✅ Accurate.**
* Local Option Tax (LOT) revenue **can’t be used by fire districts**, which are separate taxing entities. Previously, Ketchum used LOT for police and fire, per city budgets.
* With the fire department transferred out, those funds are now discretionary for other city uses.
---
#### 🧑🚒 **Claim 5: Compensation for part-time firefighters is doubling**
* **✅ Partially supported.**
* Public meeting records (e.g., Ketchum Fire District budget workshops) show that **on-call and hourly wages are increasing significantly**, possibly in part to retain staff.
* However, the document’s tone implies personal gain and conflict of interest by a councilmember; this claim is **serious but unverified without disclosure and recusal records**.
---
#### 🧑💼 **Claim 6: Fire District Commissioners are unqualified**
* **⚠️ Subjective and unverifiable.**
* Commissioners were appointed by Blaine County Commission per Idaho law. Their résumés are not fully public, but lack of prior budgetary experience is not disqualifying under Idaho statute.
* The claim that “none know what they are doing” is **opinion**, not fact.
---
#### 📊 **Claim 7: Budget process is rushed and opaque**
* **✅ Accurate.**
* Idaho fire districts typically have **one public budget hearing** and adopt the budget shortly after. This is legal under Idaho Code §31-1423 but can be **perceived as insufficiently transparent**, especially for newly formed districts.
---
#### 🏛️ **Claim 8: Ketchum has outsourced nearly all core services**
* **✅ Largely accurate.**
* **Fire** → Ketchum Fire District
* **Police** → Blaine County Sheriff’s Office
* **Sustainability** → Blaine County
* **Transit** → Mountain Rides
* **Animal Control** → Outsourced
* Remaining departments include Planning, Housing, Public Works (roads), Arts, and Historic Preservation.
---
### 🔚 Conclusion
While some of the claims in the document are exaggerated or opinion-based (notably the “quadrupling” of taxes), many core facts are verifiable:
* Ketchum did outsource fire services.
* LOT funding is no longer usable for fire.
* Property taxes have increased for Ketchum residents.
* Transparency in fiscal shifts and governance has been weak, inviting skepticism.
It's all about good governance.
Ketchum needs excellent elected officials and excellent management. Which form of government is best suited to deliver good governance to Ketchum; what we have now or the Council-Manager form?
Let the voters decide! Sign the petition to get this on the November 4th ballot. You have to be a registered Ketchum voter to sign. Call for information or to sign the petition.
Anne Corrock 208 721-2499