Two years in a row, the Keizer Fire District has taken in too much property tax revenue to qualify for state funding for additional staff during wildfire season.
The fire district, for the past five years, has applied for an Oregon State Fire Marshal grant awarding up to $35,000 for the seasonal personnel.
The goal of the grant, established in 2022, is to give agencies enough staffing to put out fires while they are small, according to the state fire marshal website and Keizer Fire District Division Chief Brian Butler.
Butler said these additional staff members can help the district save on overtime costs during the summer. They can respond to brush and wildland fires or fill in for those joining state task forces dispatched to large wildfires.
The state awarded $6 million in grants to 181 of the record 223 agencies that applied. The state fire marshal prioritizes funding for smaller fire agencies earning less than $2 million in property taxes, and the Keizer Fire District is above that threshold.
The Keizer district, like other fire districts, is funded through property tax income and ambulance revenue. Budget documents show the district expects $7.2 million from property taxes during the upcoming fiscal year.
“This grant is very popular among the structural fire service, and we are seeing more applications each year,” according to Kassie Keller of the state fire marshal’s office. Last year the state received 207 applications.
Butler said Keizer was awarded the grant three years in a row before being denied in the last two years. The district did not expect to receive the grant this year, he said.
He said the state gives grants to agencies earning over $2 million based on the next smallest tax income until it runs out of funds to give. The Keizer district was informed that the grant’s increasing popularity meant the state fire marshal ran out of funds before it could award Keizer.
The fire district still intends to hire three students currently working as volunteer firefighters, Butler said. The district has hired extra staff each summer since the state grant was established, and Butler said two people were hired last summer.
NEWS TIP? Contact reporter Krista Kroiss at [email protected].
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