By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch In response to a levy failure in August and uncertainty about whether the measure will pass in this fall's election, Graham Fire and Rescue officials are preparing for a "worst-case" scenario by preparing plans to possibly close two fire stations. One possibility is that two stations would be shuttered because the fire district wouldn't be able to afford running them without tax revenue from the four-year maintenance and operations levy. In the primary election that concluded last month, the levy received a 58.4 percent yes vote, which was short of the mandatory 60 percent for it to pass. The fire district's commissioners have decided to submit the measure to voters again in the general election in November. While hopeful that the levy will pass the second time around, officials are making plans for how to offset the reduced funding if it is rejected again. At a meeting of the commissioners Aug. 25, fire chief Ryan Baskett presented an outline of how stations might be closed. The commissioners asked Baskett to report back at a later date with more details on how the potential impact on services to public would be handled. One plan calls for closing the Thrift station (located on 224th Street East), which already is staffed less than 25 percent of the time, and the Frederickson-area station (74th Avenue East and 176th Street East). Commissioner Bob Skaggs said station closures "are on the table because we have to plan for a worst-case scenario" if the levy doesn't pass in November, and because officials are starting to put together next year's budget and need a pass and fail contingency. Voters in the district are being asked to approve $11 million in property taxes spread over four years. As an example of what property owners would pay, the levy would assess $150 per year on a home valued at $250,000. Fire districts depend on property taxes for funds to operate on and can only increase their rate tax collection with voters' approval. The Graham district has experienced a decrease of more than 20 percent in assessed valuation of property since 2008. During the same period, calls for service have increased more than 14 percent and are expected to keep increasing 3 to 6 per cent per year, according to district officials. Last year's calls totaled 5,644, 70 percent of them for medical emergencies. Officials anticipate more than 5,900 calls will be handled by the end of 2014. The district has six fire stations serving an area of 70 square miles and a population of about 61,000 people. The agency has 53 career firefighters.
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