It isn’t an exaggeration to say that without the Colorado legislature voting to fully backfill the state’s more than 250 fire protection districts, communities throughout this state wouldn’t be adequately protected in times of emergencies.
More than 70% of Colorado fire departments are fire protection districts, which means they are almost completely funded by property taxes.
Since the Great Recession, when assessed property evaluations plummeted, fire districts have struggled to rebound from significant revenue losses. In the last decade, our revenues remained flat despite population increases and skyrocketing call volumes. Many fire districts were forced to go to voters multiple times to seek approval for revenue stabilization measures in an attempt to return to where they were a decade earlier. It was never enough.
The only way fire districts can meet ever-increasing day-to-day demands is by planning, training personnel, working out mutual aid agreements with neighbors, maintaining and replacing our equipment to ensure reliability, and building new infrastructure. All of this requires a reliable source of revenue. But these funding roller coasters have made planning and budgeting like trying to grasp a handful of smoke.
As taxpayers, homeowners and renters, fire chiefs and firefighters understand the significant impact of increased property values and support actions to bring those costs down. But as property values have increased so have the demands on fire districts with more residents, visitors and businesses.
Additionally, we haven’t been able to keep up with inflation and the increase in costs for vehicles, maintenance, fuel and insurance. For instance, a fire engine, which has an average lifespan of 15 years, has doubled in price over the last five years, now costing about $1.2 million. The time for delivery has tripled, going from one year to three to four years.
We are already far beyond the point of being able to withstand any more impacts and are grateful legislators heard our calls for help and responded to our emergency the same way we respond to theirs.
To be clear, this was an emergency. Fire departments don’t just fight fires and wildfires. They are the first responders for floods; hazardous materials spills; aviation, train and highway crashes; terrorist attacks; mass shootings and other emergencies such as heart attacks, drownings and home accidents. Fire departments also lead rescues on land, water, and in the air.
Without full backfill, fire districts would have no choice but to cut services, which results in poorer patient outcomes and increased fire spread and damage. This is because of longer response times that are a direct result of fewer crews, faulty or unreplaced equipment and temporarily or permanently closed firehouses, among other things.
Some districts would only be able to respond to one emergency at a time, while others would be forced to rely on a neighboring fire department or district. This means that during a fire, rescue or medical emergency, Coloradans would be waiting longer for a response from a more distant fire station. Whether your house is burning down or your dad has a heart attack, that additional two minutes, five minutes or ten minutes can literally make the difference between life and death.
We appreciate Democratic Senate President Steve Fenberg, House Speaker Julie McCluskie (D-Dillon), Speaker Pro Tempore Chris DeGruy Kennedy (D-Lakewood) and Sen. Chris Hansen (D-Denver) who heard us and fought for us during this special session as well as Gov. Polis for signing this bill into law.
In the long term, fire districts’ reliance on property taxes as their sole funding mechanism is not sustainable. We are eager to work with the legislature in the upcoming legislative sessions to address the urgent need to diversify and stabilize fire revenue. But that is a different conversation for a different day. For today, we appreciate that we have the resources necessary to continue protecting and serving our communities.
Kristy Olme is the president of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs and the fire chief for the North-West Fire Protection District (Park County).
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