Voters to consider Scott County Rural Fire no-tax-rate-increase bond issue

BLODGETT — The Scott County Rural Fire Protection District is seeking citizens' support in the Tuesday, April 2, election.

With Proposition Safety, the district seeks approval for a $1.65 million no-tax-rate-increase general obligation bond issue to improve the district.

Jeremy Perrien, fire chief of Scott County Rural Fire, said the district is seeking approval of the bond issue for a variety of purposes.

"For site development," Perrien said. "Somewhere toward Miner we are going to build a new fire station."

The district currently has three fire stations: Blodgett, Vanduser and Morley.

"If you look at a map, and you do 5-mile circles around each station, there's still a lot of area that is open," Perrien said.

Perrien said the district wants the bond to furnish a new firehouse, repair existing facilities and purchase new apparatus and equipment to meet safety standards.

"So we are going to build a new fire station, then we are going to add on to the Morley station to accommodate living," Perrien said. "You see, here in Blodgett and at Vanduser, we have a living room, bedrooms, but Morley does not."

According to Perrien, there is a common misconception that the Miner Fire Department also covers the area north of it. But Perrien clarified that, while Miner is closer, the rural area north of Miner is not within the Miner Fire Department's coverage area, but is Scott County Rural Fire Protection's district.

Perrien said that, in previous years, the district ran bond issues to expand the fire district, improve response times and lower their Insurance Service (ISO) rating to lower insurance rates.

"However, those measures didn't pass," Perrien said. "In response to those election results, the district reached out to L.J. Hart and Company, who serves as our municipal bond underwriter, to provide insight on our financial situation."

Perrien said they discovered the district was not imposing the full authorized tax levy passed by voters in November 2013.

As a result, the district was not receiving tax revenue it was entitled to. In the summer of 2022, the district decided to correct this and recapture the voluntary rollback, raising the tax rate from $0.5770 to $0.7456 per $100 of assessed value.

"In an attempt to be fully transparent, we advertised the change in July 2022, and the board approved the rate at the tax rate hearing in August 2022," Perrien said. "If Proposition Safety is approved, the general fund tax rate will be reduced by about $0.20 and reallocated to the debt service fund to make bond payments, resulting in no increase to the total tax levy."

According to Perrien, these needs are more important than people realize.

"So during inclement weather, bad storms or snow, we staff our stations," Perrien said. "Example: If you're a member here at Blodgett and you live in Sikeston, and let's say the roads are icy, somebody's house could burn down by the time you get here at the station to get a fire truck. If you're already staying here, the firetruck is en route quicker, so that's the purpose of adding living space to Morley."

Perrien also explained how having a station within Miner city limits will benefit the fire district tremendously.

"Our district comes down to the north of Miner, within Miner city limits, so if we get a station down there, we will be able to cover that area with a better insurance rate for them and a better response time," Perrien said. "We will still call Miner or Sikeston, but as far as the insurance rates go, it's our responsibility."

He continued: "So the whole purpose of this bond issue is to provide funding to improve our firehouse facilities and ensure safety for our staff and the community."

The end goal, he said, is to reduce response times and decrease insurance rates.

"All we are asking for is the citizens' permission to use a portion of our current tax rate in the form of bond," Perrien said.

Perrien said the district is pursuing the general obligation bond issue because it is the cheapest form of borrowing for a municipality.