East Salem homeowners could soon pay around $83 more per year in property taxes as the Marion County Fire District No. 1 is asking voters to approve a new public safety levy on their November ballots.
The agency would not hire new employees if the levy is approved but would keep nine firefighters on its payroll who were hired under a 2021 federal grant for one fire engine crew. That federal money is set to expire in February 2025.
The levy would pay for the continuation of the firefighters, who make up 17% of the district’s on-duty personnel, according to Fire Chief Kyle McMann.
Losing those firefighters would slow response times by one-third – an average increase of about three to five minutes.
The proposed tax comes as the district is reporting a 30% increase in calls for service since 2020. Such calls historically grew by about 5% each year, but that annual rate has doubled over the past three years, McMann said.
If approved, the levy would generate about $20.5 million between 2024 and 2029.
Marion County will start mailing out ballots on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Ballots need to be postmarked on or before Election Day on Nov. 7.
The new levy proposes taxing Marion County residents 99 cents per thousand of assessed property value for five years starting in fall 2024.
Under the tax proposed in the November election, residents would pay around $205 per year if their property has an assessed value of $207,000 – the average within the fire district, McMann said.
That amounts to about $17.08 a month, according to a statement from the fire district.
The proposed tax would replace the district’s current levy, approved by voters in 2021, which taxes residents 59 cents per thousand of assessed value and is set to expire in 2026. Under that levy, an average home pays $122 per year.
The fire district said at the time that it would raise $10 million over five years after two previous levy efforts failed.
The fire district is also funded by a permanent property tax rate of $1.90 per thousand of assessed property value – about $393 per year for an average home
Money from the levy would prevent the district from losing one of two dedicated fire engine crews at its Middle Grove and Four Corners fire stations.
It is a special district, an independent agency separate from any city, county or state government – none of which provide funding to keep it running, McMann said.
The agency provides fire and emergency medical services to 59,000 people over 88 square miles, serving communities of Four Corners, Middle Grove, Pratum, Macleay, Brooks, Clear Lake, Labish and Chemeketa. The district’s full-time and volunteer firefighters respond to about 10,000 service calls each year, according to the statement.
If the proposed tax fails in the November election, the district can put it back on the ballot for the May 2024 primary.
McMann said his agency could maintain its current services through June 30, 2024 if the levy fails.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
