With snowpack and river reports indicating a very dry summer, wildfire is, yet again, at the top of people’s minds. And the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District (CRFPD) is doing everything it can to prepare for — and prevent — wildfires, while balancing increasing daily call volumes. To keep up with demand, its board of directors is mulling over whether or not to ask taxpayers for help.
“The board of directors is considering one or two ballot measures this fall,” Chief Rob Goodwin told The Sopris Sun. “One would be a proposed sales tax to fund our general fund … the second potential question would be a bond issue for capital improvements.”
Sales tax measure
The general fund is used to hire staff, buy gear and “keep the lights on,” explained Goodwin.
As a result of Colorado’s 2024 residential assessment rate and valuation adjustments, revenue for the district is expected to continue dropping by about $1.3 million a year. For at least the next six years, despite however much property values increase, fire districts can only increase taxation by 5.25% annually.
To offset these losses, the legislature adjusted Title 32 to allow certain special districts, with voter approval, to levy sales taxes. This takes effect July 1, but only three districts in the state have already received voter approval to incorporate a tax by that time.
CRFPD’s sales tax measure would be on the November ballot and, if passed, collections would begin as of Jan. 1, 2026. Its sales tax would likely be set at 1.5% for the first five years, decrease to 1.25% for the next five years, then drop to 1% where it would remain. The reason for the initial 1.5% is to meet its apparatus (fire engines, ambulances, etcetera) replacement schedule. The average price of a rig is $1.5 to $2 million. The revenue will also be used to increase staffing (a top priority), replace equipment and replenish its reserves.
The district is currently dipping into its reserves due to the drop in funding, said Goodwin. “It’s not sustainable.”
Back in 2015, CRFPD hired a consultant, Almont and Associates, to develop a 10-year master plan. “We identified that we needed six [on-duty,] full-time, 24/7 responders — in 2015 — to be able to run two ambulance calls, or run a firetruck and an ambulance to a bread-and-butter car wreck.”
The district wasn’t able to meet the six-person staffing recommendation until 2023, by which time the need had already grown. “We are staffed at levels identified in 2015, and it’s now 2025 and we’re way behind,” the chief stated. It also doesn’t meet the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard.
According to the NFPA standard, a typical car wreck requires eight responders. To curtail the deficiency, regional fire districts constantly rely on mutual aid for calls. Should the district receive the sales tax revenue, additional staff would be hired incrementally over the course of a few years.
“We are understaffed in almost every division,” said Goodwin. “But the number one priority for this tax increase is responders.”
Last year, the department responded to about 1,900 calls, and 35% (660) of those were “concurrent” calls (two or more at the same time). “[That] happens much more often than it ever had before,” explained Deputy-Chief Administrator Jenny Cutright, speaking to the increased demand.
There are five fire stations in the district: Marble, Redstone, Carbondale, Missouri Heights and near the CMC-Spring Valley turnoff (West End Station). Only the Carbondale and West End stations are staffed 24/7, albeit below the NFPA staffing standard.
Bond measure
The bond, for $25 million, would primarily be for workforce housing projects, but also for station improvements. Breaking it down, Cutright stated that the bond tax for a homeowner with a $1 million property would cost them about the same as a Netflix subscription: $13 a month, though paid annually.
Goodwin said he’s been around for three bond cycles. One was paid back two years ago and another, from 2018 for $6.75 million that went toward the training center and the purchase of fire apparatuses, is still being paid back at an average of $7 a month from property owners.
“It is so hard to get people that can stay here,” said Goodwin. “I never thought we’d be in this boat, but we are and we need to build workforce housing for career people and volunteers in different locations around our fire district.”
The department is considering small housing projects in Marble, Redstone, Missouri Heights and a larger project in Carbondale that would be for a mix of career and volunteer responders. The department has been in conversation with Colorado Mountain College and the Roaring Fork School District to possibly collaborate on a joint housing project — although those discussions are in the preliminary stages. The two education districts currently partner with CRFPD for fire science and emergency medical responder courses.
Magellan Strategies recently conducted a survey to gauge community support for the ballot measures. Each response was broken down into two parts for each prospective measure: 1) before being informed of the reasoning behind the request and 2) after being informed. The sales tax measure received 72% approval (before being informed) and 75% approval (after being informed). The bond measure had a 59% approval (before informed) and a 68% approval (after informed). There were a total of 498 responses.
The board is expected to make a decision by the end of July whether or not to include either, both or neither of the measures on the November ballot.