Sagle Fire releases levy details

SAGLE — Owners of improved land in Sagle will see a $69 decrease per $100,000 of assessed value if voters approve a permanent levy override sought by the Sagle Fire District.

The Bonner County Clerk's Office released the official ballot question for the Nov. 3 election. The estimated levy beginning Jan. 1, 2017, would be 0.0012 percent of the assessed market value. That means $120 per $100,000 of the net value of all property after exemptions.

This year, the levy rate was $189 per $100,000 and only improved property was assessed, the ballot says.

Sagle Fire's board of directors adopted resolutions on Sept. 1 which seek to tax on unimproved land and to implement the permanent budget increase. The district is seeking a permanent tax levy override of $291,000 to maintain staffing levels and move ahead with a plan to staff the district's station off U.S. Highway 95 in Careywood.

"The reality is our call volumes overall are up. A significant part of our call volumes are in the southern part of the county, which is, in our estimation, underserved," Sagle Fire Commissioner Steve Fels said earlier this month.

Moreover, Sagle Fire stands to lose three firefighters due to Bonner County's cancellation of its EMS contract with Sagle. Bonner County canceled the contract so it could establish its own EMS station in Sagle. Fels said those positions will be lost without the levy increase.

The district has historically not taxed landowners for unimproved land because it wanted to focus its resources on fires which threaten structures. The district, however, has since resolved to fight wildland fires to keep them from spreading into larger conflagrations.

The Sagle Fire District has 5,539 improved parcels and 3,129 unimproved parcels, according to Bonnie Berscheid, a residential appraiser and data analyst at the Bonner County Assessor's Office. The district has 186 state-owned or tax-exempt parcels, in addition to 13 parcels that are valued by the Idaho State Tax Commission.