To The Editor:
Over the past weeks people have told us that a brief description would be helpful of how the $186,000 that would be annually generated by a 2 mil levy increase would be spent over a five to ten year plan. With exact amounts being subject to final Fire Board budget approval, here’s that breakout:

• $18K to training budget for Training Officer pay for additional and advanced firefighter trainings, extra classes for officers and new recruits.
• $15K to commercial inspection/preplan function.
• $30K to maintain Chief function (pay, training,
certification).
• $33K for apparatus maintenance/repair by certified mechanic on 17 plus apparatus.
• $20K for buried water storage upgrades (from 20K to 30K gallon minimum required) and new co-operative installations.
• $40K for grant matches (or by accumulating several annual 40K budgets) to add additional satellite stations.
• $30K to acquire used NFPA certified “class A” pumpers for satellite stations.

It’s important to note that virtually every one of these categories works to help directly satisfy an ISO assessment survey which basically tells insurance companies how well we can do our job, and, therefore, what they should charge policy holders to cover their risk. ISO concentrates on our responding with the proper equipment along with big water resources to structure fires, but firefighter and officer training, preplanning and commercial inspections and school and public fire prevention education are a large part of the mix.
But most importantly, by following ISO guidelines, the citizens in our tax district actually get a safer, better, faster and more well equipped fire department with strong water resources to protect not only lives and property, but to respond to accidents, wildland incidents, helicopter landings and on and on.

Mil Levy Committee
WMFPD