Residents served by the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority rejected tax levies that support maintenance and operations that were on the Nov. 8 ballot, leaving the district no choice but to limit services and lay off workers. According to a Nov. 23 letter from interim fire chief Rob Smith, the department ran two tax levies to support Fire Districts 1 and 11. Both needed supermajorities of 60% approval to pass. The Rochester levy got close, with 59.3% approval; the Littlerock levy received just 51.5% approval. “Unfortunately, moving into 2023 there will be a severe funding shortfall, not only affecting each station and staff, but our community members individually,” Smith said in the letter.
The failure means three stations will be close their doors Thursday, Dec. 1. They are the Albany Street station in Rochester, the Maytown station and the Scott Lake station. The two other stations, Sargent Road and Littlerock Road, will remain open as staffing permits.