The Jackson County Fire District 5 board decided Tuesday not to put a tax levy on the May ballot, after residents suggested it at an earlier town hall.
The district has about $8.2 million in debt, in addition to a $1.4 million loan. That loan was a surprise to the current board, who say they had no idea it existed before last fall. The district took out the FEMA Community Disaster Loan in 2021, in the aftermath of the Almeda Fire.
Two residents spoke in favor of the levy idea at a Tuesday meeting.
"We want to do everything we can to get us back to normal," said resident Ron Crowell. "To my way of thinking, the people living in this valley, [having a] limited tax for a few years to get us up and running and back to normal is the smart way to do it."
The amount of the levy had not yet been set, but at a February meeting, the board discussed options, including amounts ranging from 25 cents to $1.00 per $1,000 of assessed value. The district is currently funded through a tax of $3.19 per $1,000 of assessed value.
But the board didn’t want to move forward. Members vaguely alluded to ongoing lawsuits.
"My own belief is that a levy would not be prudent at this time because you all don't know everything that we know," board chair Greg Costanzo said. "That is really hard for myself to withhold information from taxpayers because we can't really talk about some of the things that we're facing."
"We're very frustrated that we can't convey to the public exactly what has happened, what's been going on and really where some of the fault lies," board member John Karns said.
The district is in the middle of one lawsuit with contractor Tactical Business Group over alleged breach of contract and another with its former chief over alleged wrongful termination and defamation.
At the meeting, the board also authorized Costanzo and Chief Mike Hussey to represent the district in mediation with Tactical Business Group.
Hussey also had some good news at the meeting: the district likely qualifies for an extension to pay back the $1.4 million FEMA loan.
"It doesn't mean that they're going to forgive any of the loan amount," he said. "But it does buy us one more year to help sort through the audits and demonstrate that the community and the organization have not recovered."
The loan was originally due in full this spring, and the district had no plans on how to repay it.
JCFD5 serves 23,000 residents across three fire stations in Phoenix, Talent and unincorporated Ashland. It currently operates under an intergovernmental agreement with nearby Fire District 3, which provides administrative support and oversight by Chief Hussey.
