A fire district serving 34K Ada County residents seeks taxpayer help. This is why
CORRECTION: The Kuna Rural Fire District has 13 firefighters. A previous version of this story reported an incorrect number.
The Kuna Rural Fire District says it sometimes has no firefighters to send on 911 calls.
Emergency calls increased by more than 72% in the last 10 years as the district’s population grew to 34,000 people, the district said Wednesday in a news release. The district deals with more than one emergency call at a time almost 25% of the time, straining the district’s staff even more, the district said.
The district, which covers all of Kuna and unincorporated Ada County from Lake Hazel Road south past Kuna Mora Road, said it is no longer able to provide its growing city and the surrounding areas with adequate safety services.
Fire Chief T.J. Lawrence said the district, which has five firefighters per shift, needs six additional staff members and a new fire station in South Kuna.
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The district’s 13 firefighters respond to more than 2,000 calls per year, the district said. Also, the district has one fire station, when ideally a community would have one fire station per 10,000 people, the district said.
That’s why the district will ask Kuna-area voters in the Nov. 8 election to approve a $750,000 budget increase for the new firefighters and a $6 million bond for the new station.
The levy would result in a tax increase of $16.34 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, each year, based upon current conditions, the district said. The bond would result in a tax of $7.20 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year.
Combined, the levy and bond would cost $6.79 per month, or $81.45 per year, for an owner of a $346,000 home with Idaho’s homeowners exemption on primary residences, the district said in its release. The $346,000 figure is average for the area, the district said.
“This funding plan is a result of listening to our taxpayers, finding a way to make these service improvements, and reducing the annual cost they would pay,” Lawrence said in the release.
The fire district is inviting the public to learn more about the levy increase and bond proposal. It will host community members at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, and at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Fire Station 1 at 150 W. Boise St.
This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 4:56 PM.
