Levy Override Info

Two Districts, Two Separate Challenges

Star Fire Protection District

The Star Fire District serves one of the fastest-growing cities in the state and the surrounding areas, where population growth is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. As the community expands, so does the demand for emergency services, making it essential to scale our capabilities to meet these evolving needs. Expanding fire protection and emergency response services is vital to ensure timely, high-quality care when it's needed most. The upcoming levy override will provide the necessary funding to help the district meet these growing demands, ensuring we can continue to deliver essential services and maintain the safety and well-being of our residents. With this funding, we can ensure that our firefighters are well-equipped and properly staffed to respond to emergencies swiftly and efficiently, protecting lives and property across the district.

One Common Goal:

Ensuring the safety and well-being of our growing communities through responsive, high-quality emergency services.

Middleton Rural Fire District

The Middleton Rural Fire District is currently funded for only one fire engine. Despite the increase in population and calls for service, the number of firefighters available to respond has not grown. As a result, whenever this engine is dispatched to an emergency, it leaves the district with no available units. This reliance on external resources delays response times and stretches available personnel thin, putting additional pressure on neighboring districts. To maintain a high level of service and ensure that we can respond promptly and efficiently to emergencies, it is critical that we increase staffing and resources within the district. The need for additional funding, through the levy override, will help address these gaps and allow us to meet the growing demands of the community.

High Quality Service

The upcoming levy override is essential for maintaining the high-quality emergency services our communities rely on. Adequate staffing levels and the retention of experienced firefighters are at the core of delivering exceptional service. Firefighting, rescue operations, and emergency medical services (EMS) require highly specialized skills that take years to develop and are best cultivated through the guidance of seasoned personnel.

By securing funding through the levy override, we can retain experienced firefighters and ensure that our teams have the knowledge and expertise needed to meet the growing demands of our communities. This investment in our personnel ensures that we continue to provide the swift, effective, and high-quality service our residents deserve.

Maintain response times

The upcoming levy override will provide critical funding to staff one new station in both the Middleton and Star fire districts. These stations are essential to maintaining rapid response times, ensuring our ability to deliver swift and effective emergency services. While the construction of these stations is funded through impact fees from ongoing community development, staffing them requires additional levy support. Without these additional stations, response times will increase, as reliance on partner agencies would grow. This delay could compromise the safety and well-being of our residents. By investing in staffing for these stations, we strengthen our capacity to respond promptly and effectively to emergencies, safeguarding our communities as they continue to grow.

Safer Communities

The upcoming levy override is crucial for enabling the Middleton and Star fire districts to keep pace with the rapid growth of our communities. As new homes and businesses are built, the demand for emergency services increases significantly. Without additional funding, our current resources are becoming stretched too thin, potentially impacting our ability to respond effectively to emergencies. This levy override provides the necessary funding to expand our staffing and capabilities, ensuring we can meet the needs of our growing population. By investing in this measure, we can maintain the quality of service our residents depend on while proactively addressing the challenges posed by ongoing community growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do we need a levy override?

The capacity of both the Middleton and Star fire districts to adapt their budgets effectively in response to rapid community growth has encountered significant obstacles. Legislative measures have notably limited the districts' ability to adequately grow their budgets within the current levy. This constraint poses a formidable challenge for our fire districts as they strive to meet the increasing demands of our expanding communities. As population and development surge, the strain on our fire district resources becomes increasingly apparent. Emergency response times stretch, and maintaining adequate staffing levels to ensure public safety becomes compromised. The restrictive nature of these legislative measures not only hampers the districts' ability to keep pace with growth but also exacerbates existing challenges.

What is a levy override?

A levy override is an adjustment to an existing permanent levy, providing additional funding beyond what the current levy allows. Both the Middleton and Star fire districts currently operate under permanent levies. However, due to the explosive growth in our communities, these levies are unable to keep pace with the rapid expansion.

A levy override creates the ability to move the budget forward in a one-time, larger-than-normally-allowed movement. This allows the districts to recapture lost funding from new growth. After the one-time voter-approved increase, the levy returns to normal operation. It offers a balanced approach to managing the financial challenges posed by rapid community growth while ensuring responsible fiscal management.

What is a levy?

Under the levy system, property tax amounts are determined by the budgeted expenses for services. Each district sets an annual budget within the rules for the levy, and this budget dictates the levy rate, which is then divided among all properties within the district. Property owners are responsible for paying taxes based on this rate, with the revenue collected funding various aspects of fire protection, including personnel salaries, training, equipment procurement, facility maintenance, and emergency response operations.

For Middleton and Star Fire Districts, the permanent levy ensures a stable funding source for essential services. However, rapid community growth has surpassed the existing levy’s capacity to meet growing needs. Therefore, a levy override is necessary to align funding with growth, enabling the districts to sustain high-quality services and ensure the safety and well-being of residents.

What is Idaho House Bill 389?

In 2021, Idaho House Bill 389 was passed, imposing constraints on our fire districts' ability to increase their budgets annually. This legislation presents significant challenges for our fire districts as they strive to keep pace with the evolving needs of our expanding communities. With our communities growing, the demand for emergency services, such as fire protection and medical response, naturally rises. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions set by HB 389, our fire districts struggle to secure sufficient budgetary allocations to meet these increasing demands. In essence, HB 389 limits the extent to which our fire districts can expand their budgets, particularly affecting rapidly growing communities like ours. This restriction puts our communities at risk, resulting in longer response times and less effective emergency services. To address this critical issue, we must override the levy to ensure that our districts are adequately funded. By doing so, we can enhance the safety and well-being of our communities.

Why not use impact fees on new growth?

In both the Middleton and Star Fire Districts, developers are mandated to pay impact fees alongside their building permits. These fees have very strict rules set by state statute, primarily aimed at funding infrastructure development to bolster emergency responses necessitated by community growth. However, it's imperative to note a critical limitation: these impact fees are not designated for replacing or maintaining existing buildings or equipment, nor do they encompass firefighter staffing costs. This underscores a significant challenge: while impact fees play a vital role in supporting infrastructure needs spurred by growth, they inherently fall short in addressing the ongoing operational expenses and upkeep requirements essential for sustaining existing services.