Proposition 310 could give rural Arizona fire districts a boost
Arizona voters will have the option to implement a small tax increase to fund fire districts across the state with a new ballot measure this November.
Proposition 310 would establish a Fire District Safety Fund through a sales tax increase of one-tenth of 1%, or an extra dime for a $100 purchase, which is expected to generate more than $100 million over the next two decades. If passed, the state would distribute money each month to about 150 fire districts covering tens of thousands of square miles in Arizona, many of those areas being rural and unincorporated.
“[Fire districts have] significant constraints on their revenues and many of them are operating with revenues that are dramatically less than pre-recession levels,” said Bryan Jeffries, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona.
“We don't have enough people and enough equipment to get to people when they need us most, and in our business, minutes and seconds count dramatically,” he said.
Right now, fire districts are funded primarily by personal property taxes within the district’s boundaries. In many small cities and towns, the amount that is currently collected can leave some districts lacking resources, staffing and training.
While the majority of Arizona’s population may live in more urban centers like Phoenix and Tucson, that doesn’t mean that the status of these rural fire districts is irrelevant to them, said Will Humble, former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. Considering how many people travel across the state for work and vacation, the fire districts that serve countless remote areas along the highways are critical.
“When you drive through those fire districts and EMS districts, if something happens to you, your life is in their hands,” Humble said. “And the level of professionalism, training and equipment is directly related to whether you will survive or not, so you have a personal interest in professionalizing the rural services.”
Citing a lack of accountability and transparency around how the money will be distributed, The Arizona Free Enterprise Club urged its members to vote no on the measure in its official opposition statement submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Similarly, The Republican Party of Arizona is against the measure, claiming it “discourages fiscal responsibility in these fire districts and incentivizes each one to increase spending now that they are given access to a statewide pool of taxpayer funds,” in their opposition statement.
Both groups did not respond to requests for comment.
A series of virtual Town Hall meetings will be held to educate voters on the statewide ballot propositions. The first meeting is on Oct. 1 at 9 a.m. followed by meetings on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, and the Zoom link can be found on the Secretary of State’s website.