{"id":26535,"date":"2024-07-22T18:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dire-straits-cortez-fire-agrees-to-put-a-sales-tax-on-november-ballot\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:41:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:41:48","slug":"dire-straits-cortez-fire-agrees-to-put-a-sales-tax-on-november-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dire-straits-cortez-fire-agrees-to-put-a-sales-tax-on-november-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dire straits\u2019: Cortez Fire agrees to put a sales tax on November ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Cortez Fire Protection District will put a 0.54% sales tax before voters in November to reverse a financial calamity that has left it $250,000 in the hole. Some of the money could go to a new ladder truck. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Cortez Fire Protection District unanimously agreed Wednesday to put a sales tax on the ballot in November.<\/p>\n

The proposed 0.54% sales tax would cost consumers less than a penny on the dollar, which works out to be just over 50 cents for every $100 spent, said Fire Chief Roy Wilkinson.<\/p>\n

The tax cannot be on things like groceries, diapers, feminine hygiene products, prescriptions or school supplies.<\/p>\n

If passed, it would be effective July 1, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, 0.54% is a very odd number, and it\u2019s because that is what we need,\u201d said Wilkinson. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t \u2026 pull a number out of the sky. That 0.54 has been calculated.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it stands, Cortez Fire is a quarter million dollars in debt.<\/p>\n

With a growing population, aging equipment and some of the highest run volumes in the state, it is trying to find ways to sustain its operations now and into the future.<\/p>\n

They already agreed to sell the station at 6892 County Road 24 at the meeting, and they\u2019re considering selling two others.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Cortez Fire Protection District created signs to raise awareness about the sales tax ballot initiative. Such signs can be seen around the community, in yards and storefronts. (Cortez Fire Protection District)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After their property tax proposal didn\u2019t pass on last year\u2019s ballot, they went back to the drawing board and started looking at the areas they respond to.<\/p>\n

The Cortez Fire Protection District spans 169 square miles. It goes all the way to the Utah border and nearly to Mesa Verde National Park, which welcomes a half-million visitors every year.<\/p>\n

Cortez sees a lot of that traffic, and the CFPD realized they do a fair amount of runs for folks just passing through.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers were staggering,\u201d said Wilkinson. \u201cWe realized we had a lot of visitors come through, but we did not realize the number.\u201d<\/p>\n

And therein lies the difference with the failed proposal last year, and the sales tax they hope passes this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went for property tax (last year), and that would have been a burden solely on those who are in the community,\u201d said Wilkinson.<\/p>\n

The sales tax would be for everyone \u2013 residents and visitors alike \u2014 so the burden isn\u2019t solely put on those in the district.<\/p>\n

In fact, 12% of the estimated $3.3 million the sales tax could raise is expected to come from the district\u2019s residents. Sixteen percent is expected to come from folks in Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

The rest \u2013 over 70% \u2013 would come from visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep this as minimal as possible on the community, and we\u2019re hoping to disperse it more,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

To find these numbers, they looked at how much money Cortez and Montezuma County brings in each year, and how many residences there are.<\/p>\n

After taking into account all non-taxable items, and shooting high, if folks spend $1,500 a month, they\u2019d pay $97 a year in tax, Rick Spencer, the battalion chief at CFPD, said.<\/p>\n

Still, they seek the community\u2019s support on it.<\/p>\n

\"Cortez
Cortez Fire Protection District and the Dolores Fire Department responded to a property fire on Colorado Highway 145 in 2020.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Cortez Fire Protection District isn\u2019t part of the county or the city, something Wilkinson said not many people realize. They\u2019re what\u2019s called a special district.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an island,\u201d said Wilkinson. \u201cWe\u2019re not part of either, and so we do not get any funding at all from the city or the county.\u201d<\/p>\n

CFPD is primarily funded by a decade-old mill levy. So when the state cut property taxes, it had a negative, trickle-down effect on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs those property taxes go down, so do our funds,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

This year, to compensate for this loss of revenue, the state gave CFPD $180,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a one-year deal. We will not have that from now on,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where the sales tax comes in.<\/p>\n

Right now, CFPD relies on things like grants for funding. They recently applied for one that would cover the cost of replacing its 1991 water tender truck, which carries water to fires.<\/p>\n

But fire stations across America compete for these grants.<\/p>\n

Firehouse Subs recently opened an online portal for stations to enter to win one of 600 grants. In less than 24 hours, they\u2019d given all the grants away.<\/p>\n

CFPD is also funded by donations, revenue from hosting CPR classes and selling address signs, and its Wildland Division.<\/p>\n

Though numerous, these revenue streams are not able to sustain all the district does.<\/p>\n

In addition to responding to folks within the 169 square miles of their district, CFPD sometimes offers backup to the nearby fire protection districts of Mancos, Lewis Arriola and Dolores, as part of their mutual aid agreements.<\/p>\n

In return, those districts do the same for CFPD in a collaborative effort to keep the community safe, Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

CFPD is trying to keep its firefighters safe, too, by staying up-to-date with equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, every day we come to work, and we cross our fingers that nothing breaks,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

Already, they\u2019ve put off buying new vehicles \u2013 like replacing their ladder truck from 1994 \u2014 that will cost up to $2 million.<\/p>\n

And though their gear is compliant with National Fire Protection Agency standards now, in a few years\u2019 time, it won\u2019t be.<\/p>\n

Funds are also not sufficient for a pay raise that would attract certified firefighters to the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a limited group who will come here. They will go to other fire departments because they pay better,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

Cortez competes with Durango, Farmington and Grand Junction for firefighters, and often loses out because they pay anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 more, depending on the position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t compete with them,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

Thus, Cortez is becoming what Wilkinson called a \u201ctraining ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get someone here, they train, and then they go somewhere else that\u2019s paying better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Staffing at the fire district is minimal. It operates with two volunteers, nine part-time and 12 total firefighters, divvyed up into three shifts and two battalions. On any given shift, there are four firefighters.<\/p>\n

For the size of houses in Cortez, to respond to a fire properly, they ought to send 16 or 17 firefighters, according to the NFPA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, right now, have four people. We\u2019re sending out, to a house fire, a quarter of those that the NFPA standard states that we should be sending,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

To try and get closer to meeting these standards, CFPD applied for another grant to get money to fund a larger staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still keeping everybody safe, but we are looking at less costs of doing that,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

CFPD is down to the bare bones with how we can save, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to cut services, that\u2019s the last thing we want to do,\u201d said Wilkinson. \u201cWe are community-oriented, we are here for the community. We are asking for the community\u2019s help. We\u2019re in dire straits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protection District is $250K in debt and hopes a sales tax will pass to add about $3.3 million to its budget<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[791,350,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ballot-initiatives","tag-fire","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79387,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535\/revisions\/79387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26535"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}