On May 19, the Falcon Fire Protection District held the second in a series of town hall meetings at the FFPD Fire Station 3 in Falcon, Colorado. About 20 community members attended to discuss whether citizens would support a proposed mill levy increase to fund an in-district ambulance service. The meeting also addressed the districtís other operational needs.The FFPD spans about 113 square miles and serves a population of about 40,500, said Trent Harwig, FFPD fire chief. There are 15,500 structures to protect in the district boundaries, with a market value of about $1.3 billion, he said. There are five stations, three of which are staffed 24/7 with a combination of career and volunteer firefighters, Harwig said.Over the last three years, the number of calls for service have steadily increased from 2008 to 2074 to 2502 in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively, he said. Service calls for this year are already up 18 percent from this time last year, Harwig said.A major concern for the FFPD is the impending drop in the residential real property assessment rate, which will directly affect the districtís budget, he said.ìThe residential assessment rate was reduced by 9.3 percent in 2017, down from 7.96 to 7.2, causing the districtís funding to drop by $212,378,î Harwig said. ìThat rate is expected to drop again in 2019 by 15.4 percent, reducing funding further by $351,679.îTABOR (Taxpayerís Bill of Rights) has created a ìone-way valveî ó residential assessment rates continue to drop to maintain the appropriate ratio determined by the Gallagher Amendment. There is no way to increase that rate and balance that ratio differently without a vote of the people, Harwig said.ìMany people in the area do not understand how the district receives its funding,î he said. ìWe are restricted to receive funding primarily from property taxes. We do not receive any funding from El Paso County or the state of Colorado.îAnother challenge for the district is its lack of advanced life support with ambulance transport capabilities, Harwig said. Ambulance services have been provided by American Medical Response, a medical transportation company that has a contract with the Colorado Springs Fire Department, he said. Although they were not contracted to do so, AMR has provided services to eastern El Paso County, including the FFPDís service area, for the entirety of its contract with Colorado Springs, Harwig said.But in March, the district received a notice from AMR that the city did not intend to renew its contract with AMR and was seeking another companyís services, he said. ìThe problem is that if Colorado Springs goes with the other ambulance service provider, that severs the provider for the city from the provider of the county,î Harwig said. Essentially, the county will not have access to ambulance services as of Dec. 31, 2019, he said.A proposed solution to both the budget and the ambulance service issues is to ask the residents of the FFPDís service area for a mill levy increase, he said. The current mill levy for the FFPD is 8.612, compared to 18.1 for Tri-Lakes Monument, which is the district that most closely resembles the FFPD, Harwig said.ìWe have the second-highest call volume in the county; we are the largest district in area; we have the highest population and we have the second-highest market value,î he said. ìYet, the FFPDís mill levy is 17 percent to 155 percent lower than other career districts (those that only employ paid firefighters) throughout the county.îHarwig said 2.1 mills of the total 6.274 mill levy increase that could be on the ballot in November would ultimately guarantee that FFPD would have advanced life support service through the districtís own ambulance; the rest would make up for the budget shortfall from the Gallagher Amendment. No decision has been made about whether the district will place a measure on the ballot; the recommendation will come from the districtís safety task force at the July board meeting, he said.Community members who attended the meeting voiced concerns about the proposed mill levy issue, citing increases in their property taxes. Residents who lived in areas close to other fire districts like Black Forest felt they would not get much from a mill levy increase for FFPD because another district would be the first to respond, as part of the automatic aid agreement.ìThis district is pretty frugal,î Harwig said. ìIn the last 19 years, we have successfully asked for one tax increase, which was in 2010. The area has grown a lot and that has helped us maintain a lower mill rate. We do not take asking for a mill levy increase lightly.î
