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I would like to thank the Republican Women for their recent letter on the levy. 聽It is very important we hear from all sides of the issue and facilitate discussions in the Community. It is also important to understand if we have missed the mark in our service to our residents.

I agree with most of the letter, especially the portion urging folks to pay special attention to their own properties. The work we do protecting our homes from wildfire, often called 鈥渄efensible space,鈥� is single handedly the most impactful wildfire protection efforts we can do as a community.聽

Wildland fire is only a small part of what we do in the fire districts. 聽Ensuring that we have enough firefighters, both paid and volunteers, and the resources to respond to all calls including rescue calls, medical calls, structure fires, hazardous materials, etc., is what I am tasked with as your Fire Chief. 聽This includes ensuring we have resources to cover the area while we are committed to an incident.聽

The only exception I would take to the letter is that they call the staffing plan 鈥渧ague鈥�. While it may seem vague if you haven鈥檛 studied the details, the 鈥減lan鈥� is clearly laid out in the budget documents and the printed levy materials. Ultimately, the Community will decide if it鈥檚 the right plan for us.聽

The property tax system is not perfect, and I, like most, would love to see taxes reduced across the board. 聽If there is one thing about the 鈥渓evy鈥� system I like, it is that the amount is transparent. On your property tax bill, you can see the exact amount that goes directly to your fire district. It isn鈥檛 lost in some bureaucracy, nor does it leave the community.聽

We all want the same thing, a fire district that is poised to respond to all-risk incidents, costs as little as possible, while being accountable to the taxpayers. Outside any levy discussion, I stand ready to talk about alternatives, and creative ways we can maintain sustainable fire districts, while easing the burden on the residents, and/or shifting our funding to a different source. 聽

No matter what side of the issue you may be on, I thank you for taking an interest in our community and being involved.聽

JEFF ARMSTRONG

Ponderay

Selkirk Fire chief