Leaders from Franklin County Fire District 3 tell us they are hoping voters in the area will approve a $0.30 lid lift, which would raise the fire levy rate to $1.34 per $1,000 of assessed home value. While this would be the third lid lift for the district since 2012, they say the funding would help with rising call volumes and staffing concerns.
"With what we're seeing in expenses with fuel, tires, medical supplies, personal protective equipment for firefighters, all of these expendable items and capital improvement that we need to do in the district comes with costs, we're never going to get caught up," said Franklin County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Mike Harris
Harris also says the extra funding would go to station renovations, staffing for wildland fire season firefighters, and backup power generators.