Guest Opinion by John Spencer of Hayden
Last month, I composed an article about why we should support our first responders – the individuals and organizations that come to our aid in times of need and whom many of us often take for granted in our daily lives. My focus was on the Northern Lakes Fire District.
As stated in Part I, I am a resident of this fire district and a former fire commissioner from another state. I’m neither a firefighter, an EMT, nor an employee, but I do regularly attend the monthly commissioner meetings in Hayden, which provides valuable insight on the challenges facing the district, including growth. This article is Part II of this series.
If you had read the previous article, you would know that Northern Lakes Fire District has attempted multiple tax levy overrides to increase service and improve response times throughout our fire district, failing five times since 2012. The district was awarded a SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grant by FEMA that ends in 2025.
The District leadership has listened to the public’s demand to make growth pay for itself and has been fiscally responsible with our tax dollars.
With the conclusion of the SAFER grant funds in 2025, it is now up to us, the taxpayer, to engage by voting ‘yes’ to the latest base budget increase.
The District’s ballot initiative would increase the levy rate to $0.94 from $0.62, resulting in a $3.5 million increase to the base budget. If this initiative is approved by the voters, it would:
- Retain the 12 SAFER firefighters and employees (FEMA SAFER grant).
- Retain the third engine company.
- Add 8 additional firefighters to the airport fire station.
- Continue plans for an additional station.
- Add additional administrative personnel for the increased workforce.
Without this base budget increase, Northern Lakes will need to reduce its workforce by the 12 SAFER positions, as well as any officers promoted to lead the extra company, returning to 2018/19 staffing levels and closing the new station that was funded completely through Fire Department Impact Fees and not tax dollars from existing taxpayers.
What does this $0.94 rate increase mean to the average homeowner? To their credit, Northern Lakes developed a Levy Tax Calculator which is located on their home page at https://northernlakesfire.com. Enter your home value, your homeowner exemption, and this great tool will deliver your current levy, proposed levy, and the difference reflecting the per-month and annual increase. For example, a $543,000 assessed value (Kootenai County median) would increase from $21.60 per month, to $32.74 per month, a $11.15 per month increase.
Among the many services we are asked to support, prioritizing first responder support is essential. Since 2013, emergency calls have surged by nearly 70%, with District crews responding to over 6,000 emergencies in 2023 alone. The District has been efficient in managing our tax dollars, actively seeking grants, impact fees, and other funding sources to minimize the burden on taxpayers.
The commissioners, fire chief, battalion chiefs, and firefighters all work together to ensure that our Northern Idaho community remains a safe place to live. I urge each of you to support the Northern Lakes Fire base-level increase this fall. The district relies on our support, just as we rely on them.
John Spencer is a former US Army Officer and Aviator with 26 years of service. He is a published author who currently sits on two Hayden commissions, volunteers at the Farragut shooting range as a Range Safety Officer, and enjoys the beauty of North Idaho with Marti, his wife of 30 years.
