(Fire District Adopts Budget: Will Issue $5 Million in General Obligation Bonds)

 On the evening of May 25, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue completed deliberations on its budget for Fiscal Year 2000-2001. The board of directors and budget committee approved a proposed budget of $53.7 million. Fire Chief Jeffrey D. Johnson described the adopted budget as a "hold the line budget that moves our existing level of service ahead one year."

In a related move, the district’s board of directors has authorized the issuance of $5 million worth of general obligation bonds for capital improvements. The bonds represent the second, and final, installment of $10 million worth of bonds authorized by district voters in 1998. Voters passed the bond measure to support new station construction, seismic upgrades to several older stations, and the acquisition of new fire equipment.

Following passage of the bond measure, the fire district issued half the authorized bonds and moved ahead with making the improvements promised local voters. To date, these have included the land purchase and construction of new stations in Central Beaverton and Cedar Hills, and the renovation of an existing home into a fire station in the Skyline area.

In issuing the second installment of bonds, the district is moving ahead with the purchase of additional response vehicles to upgrade its fleet; completion of the vehicle bay at the Skyline station; seismic upgrades to several older stations, including a complete remodel of the Sherwood station to include a community room; and the purchase of land for future fire station development.

To date, the district has spent approximately $1.4 million on land acquisition and station construction, and committed $3 million to the purchase of fire engines, a ladder truck, and other response vehicles. Equipment on order includes a 100-foot aerial platform truck and two pumpers to be received this summer. In addition, the district has purchased two incident command vehicles; two staff vehicles, and has received or made payment on six engines. Four of these engines have been delivered to the district and have been placed in stations in Progress, Sherwood, Tigard, and Wilsonville.

Adoption of the budget and issuance of the bonds comes at a time when TVF&R leadership has become increasingly concerned about the fire district’s financial condition. Since the passage of Measure 50 in 1997, the district has experienced a cumulative $19.5 million reduction in property tax revenues, the equivalent of a 17% annual reduction over the past three years.

Several other factors have complicated the District’s financial picture, including a new OSHA mandate that requires a minimum of four firefighters at a structure fire before an attack can be made inside the building. Dubbed the "two in, two out rule," the new regulation requires firefighters to make interior attacks with a minimum of two people, while a back-up crew of equal size stands by outside the building in case of emergency. Drafted in the interest of firefighter safety, adoption of the rule followed years of debate within the fire service. The rule does not apply to first-arriving crews at a fire in which someone is believed trapped in a burning building, but does cover situations such as fires in closed commercial buildings during non-business hours or obviously vacant buildings. While several TVF&R units operate with four-person crews, the majority operate with three firefighters, creating a situation in which first arriving crews are forced to delay interior fire attack until additional units arrive on the scene.

Other areas in which the district has experienced rising costs include investments in technology and the growing percentage of paramedics in the workforce. In light of these costs and concerns, the district’s board of directors has tentatively approved a plan to present a local option levy to district voters next November.