Voters in three Deschutes County fire districts are being asked to decide on levies that could fund emergency staffing and cut response times.
Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District
Measure 9-182, the largest levy on the ballot, would impose a five-year tax of $0.70 per $1,000 assessed property value to fund increased Fire, Emergency and Wildfire Preparedness staff.
The district’s emergency services, which cover a region 800-square-miles, cited a 65% increase in emergency calls over the past decade.
Jack McGowan, the vice president of the district’s board of directors, said this levy will allow the fire district to accommodate the increased demand.
“The board unanimously decided that we would go to the voters for the local option levy,” McGowan said. “With that, we can hopefully maintain the service that a very large service territory in Central Oregon needs.”
The levy would fund three additional firefighter paramedics, one wildfire risk reduction coordinator and a mechanic.
“We have 22 pieces of apparatus scattered through three major stations in Sisters County and we only have one part-time mechanic working one day a week,” McGowan said. “What we are hoping the voters can see is a good cause-effect relationship. With the funding, all the money stays local and it goes directly towards service to their community.”
Cloverdale Fire District
Measure 9-183, if passed, would increase a current levy of $0.69 to $1.23 per $1,000 of assessed property value to fund staffing and operations improvements for five years.
This would include the addition of a Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Specialist, three shift captains and three student firefighters.
The measure cited recent wildfires and a 43% increase in calls since 2022 to show a need for increased staffing.
The levy is estimated to raise over $3 million over five years.
Alfalfa Fire District
Measure 9-184 would impose a five-year tax of $1.75 per $1,000 assessed property value to fund staffing and operations beginning in the 2026 fiscal year.
If passed, funding would exclusively go to hiring two full-time firefighter paramedic positions.
The measure states these positions would improve emergency response, response times and would support 24-hour emergency services required by residents.
The text for all four measures are available here.
