- The renewal of the fire district’s levy at the current rate will maintain all existing firefighter and paramedic positions with no increase in taxes.
- The operating levy was first approved by voters in 2019 for the primary purpose of maintaining a minimum of (4) firefighters on-duty at all times including at least (1) paramedic with advanced life support skills. The fire district has met this commitment every day without exception since the start of the levy in 2019.
- Renewal of the levy is needed to retain all current firefighter and paramedic positions and allow the district to continue to add additional firefighters as the population grows. Without additional firefighters and paramedics, life-saving action at medical emergencies, fires, and motor vehicle accidents would be delayed.
- The cost of the levy is $0.35 cents per $1,000 assessed property value. For a home assessed at $200,000 about average for the fire district, the total cost is $5.83 per month or about $70 per year.
- The total number of emergency responses for the fire district has increased 80 percent since 2010. With more than 2,000 residential units currently under development, the growth trend is expected to continue.
- Levy funds help the fire district to manage multiple emergency calls at the same time without having to wait up to 15 minutes for back-up from nearby fire districts. Overlapping emergency calls occur more than 500 times each year in the fire district.
- The average number of career firefighters in the western U.S. is about (1) firefighter per 1,000 residents. With a total of 16 firefighters and paramedics that serve 34,000 residents of Woodburn, Gervais and surrounding area, the ratio of firefighters is about 0.47 per 1,000 residents.