Fruitland fire district may seek full-time unit; large hike in property taxes required

Editor's note: Due to a source error, this story originally contained inaccurate information regarding the tax rate being proposed. The story has been edited to reflect the correct amount.

The Fruitland Area Fire Protection District Fire Department plans to ask voters to approve a tax increase so it can add a full-time firefighting unit at its main station.

Currently, the district charges a tax of 26 cents per $100 of assessed property value at 19 percent of the total value of the property or about $76 on a $150,000 home, to pay for its volunteer fire department.

Fire chief Rob Francis and the fire-district board plan to propose an increase to about 50 cents per $100 assessed value, totaling about $142 on a $150,000 home.

If approved, the tax would give the department about an additional $450,000 — most of which would be used to pay and provide benefits to three crews of three firefighters each in 24-hour rotations at fire station 1 in Fruitland.

A fire chief and two officers also would be paid and would work during normal business hours.

The fire board will discuss the proposal at its meeting 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Saxony Lutheran High School in Jackson.

Francis said the soonest the department could have a tax vote would be the November election; that would require meeting an Aug. 30 deadline for filing.

If that deadline is missed, the board will try to get the referendum on the April ballot.

“We’re here to serve the public, and we’re giving them information,” Francis said of the Thursday meeting.

The department is manned by 32 volunteer firefighters that get only a fuel stipend after calls.

The proposal is to keep as many of the current firefighters as volunteers as possible.

Filling the new full-time positions would be advertised, Francis said.

Francis said five full-time firefighters could not cover most fires; the National Fire Protection Association recommends having at least 15 firefighters at every fire.

The Fruitland fire district is 110 square miles, from New Wells in the north, Neelys Landing in the east, Jackson city limits to the south and Route D to the west. Francis said the area has grown to include about 9,000 residents.

The department answered 409 calls in 2015. So far in 2016, its average response time is 22 minutes, including mutual-aid calls.

Assistant chief Gene Kerns said a hold time from a dispatcher could add three to four minutes to the response time.

“Your mom could be in cardiac arrest when we get there,” Kerns said. “That’s why that number has to be lower.”

With full-time firefighters at the station, the response time would lessen by five to 10 minutes because it would eliminate travel time to the station, Francis said.

There have been some calls Fruitland firefighters have not taken because they were away at their day jobs.

An advantage to the taxpayer for lowering the fire district’s response time is it would improve the district’s ISO rating, thus lowering home-insurance rates.

The district has a rating of 8, with 10 being the worst rating, mainly because firefighters have to bring water to many fires.

Francis said previous meetings where the idea of full-time firefighters was discussed received a largely positive reception from voters.

But he still wants to gauge the public’s reaction to the proposal.

“Anything with taxes, you’re going to be cautious,” he said.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

7273 U.S. 61, Fruitland, MO