WHITEWATER PLANS VOTE ON TAX LEVY

WHITEWATER -- Voters in the 55-square-mile area of southwest Cape Girardeau County served by the Whitewater Rural Fire Department go to the polls on Tuesday to decide the creation of a tax-supported fire district.

If the issue is approved, proceeds from the 30-cent tax levy will be used to upgrade the level of fire protection service.

The proposed Whitewater Fire Protection District would be similar to other tax-supported rural fire districts that have been created in Cape Girardeau County since the early 1970s.

Whitewater is the last of the seven rural county fire departments to seek reorganization as a tax-supported fire district. Residents of Gordonville approved their tax-supported fire district last year.

"We're very confident the issue will pass on Tuesday," said Joyce Horky, a member of the Whitewater Fire Department Board of Directors and one of the five candidates who will be elected to the board of the new district. "Everywhere we have gone in the district the people have told us this is the only fair way for everyone to help pay for fire protection."

Like other rural fire departments that later organized into tax-supported fire districts, Whitewater now depends on voluntary donations and memberships to operate the fire protection service. Horky said, "We're not getting enough money each year to maintain the current level of fire protection, much less upgrade the service."

She said the fire department now receives between $12,600 and $12,900 in annual donations and memberships. "Only about 50 percent of property owners in the area now served by the Whitewater Fire Department are paying the $30 annual membership fee for fire protection." Horky said. "That means the other half are receiving free fire protection at the expense of those who pay. With a tax-supported fire district, everybody pays their fair share for the service."

Horky said the fire district will use the proceeds from the tax levy -- approximately $16,300 per year -- to begin replacing worn out firefighting vehicles and equipment and to build a new fire station at Allenville.

She said: "By upgrading our level of fire protection, we can also begin working toward our long-term goal of lowering our Insurance Services Office rating from the current Class 9 to a Class 8. This will eventually result in lower fire insurance premiums for property owners."

In addition to the rural area, the new fire district would also provide fire protection for Whitewater, Allenville, Crump, Lake Girardeau, and the Hidden Valley Fishing Club.

There are approximately 1,060 people living within the boundaries of the proposed fire district.

The Whitewater Fire Department now has two fire stations: at 8530 State Highway A in Whitewater, and at 2150 County Road 380. The department has five pieces of firefighting apparatus. None is newer than 1977.

The fire district would be governed by a five-member board of directors. In addition to Horky, other unopposed candidates who are running for the board are: David Blumenberg, Bobby Stevens, Wesley Blumenberg, and Steven Lynn Amelunke.