Philomath Fire and Rescue will be asking voters to approve a five-year local option operating levy on the May 19 ballot, a measure the district says is necessary to maintain current staffing levels and emergency response capabilities as call volume continues to climb.
The proposed levy would take effect in July 2027, stepping in as the district’s existing capital bond expires. Voters approved that $3.5 million bond in May 2016 by a 62%-38% margin, allowing the district to borrow funds over a 10-year period to replace apparatus and equipment while expanding and renovating facilities. That bond is scheduled to be paid in full in June 2027 and was levied at the same 50-cent-per-$1,000 rate as the proposed operating levy.
“The bond is much like a home loan or a car loan,” Fire Chief Chancy Ferguson said. “We would much rather put money in savings and hopefully gain interest along the way and be able to pay for the apparatus as we go.”
If approved, the levy would run through 2032 and is projected to raise approximately $3 million over five years — generating $566,292 in its first year and growing to $637,367 by 2031-32 as assessed property values increase.
Over the last five years, the district has seen a 33% increase in emergency service requests, responding to more than 1,100 calls in 2025. The percentage increase in call volume is double the percentage increase in permanent tax revenue, according to the district.
To keep pace, Philomath Fire and Rescue recently hired three additional full-time firefighters and now staffs advanced life support providers around the clock. The district has reduced dispatch-to-response times to 1.3 minutes, with an average arrival time at the scene of under six minutes.
“We’ve just been able to be extremely efficient in how we run operations,” Ferguson said. “We shrank the fleet to match our current needs and current staffing model, which has reduced costs.”
Ferguson said downsizing the fleet also significantly reduces future replacement costs. A basic stock fire engine that cost around $600,000 a few years ago now runs between $850,000 and $1 million.
Without the levy, the district says it would be forced to reduce paid staffing positions and cut services including emergency medical and fire call response, wildland fire risk mitigation, building and plan reviews, and CPR and first aid training.
The levy stems from a 10-year master plan developed when Tom Phelps served as fire chief. The plan, which concluded in 2025, projected that the district would eventually need a levy of approximately 77 cents per $1,000 to sustain operations.
“Working within that plan, we did a lot of things in the last couple of years to reach out to the public, have an organizational assessment done to really see where we’re at,” Ferguson said. “As a district, as a board, and myself feel comfortable coming in at 50 cents per $1,000.”
The district commissioned an independent organizational review through the Special Districts Association of Oregon.
“We really wanted to have a third party look at how we’re doing,” Ferguson said. “We felt like we were doing pretty good but we wanted to have an outside view of where we needed to improve and confirmation that we are doing the right things in the right area. And also to find our weaknesses, so we could work on improving those and provide the best service again for the tax dollars that’s provided to us.”
In addition, the district conducted a community survey in 2025 that drew 104 responses from residents, business owners and community partners.
Survey results showed that more than 70% of respondents rated fire suppression, wildland fire suppression and emergency medical services as a “critical priority.” Satisfaction with services was high, with 80% of those who had received services reporting they were “very satisfied.” The top three planning priorities identified by respondents were technical competence of personnel, maintaining existing emergency response times, and keeping equipment and facilities reliable.
“The community wants a competent but confident, caring provider to be at the scene,” Ferguson said. “They don’t care if the fire engine’s green, purple, red, blue — they want it to work, of course, but really what they want is somebody that knows what they’re doing, they’re confident in their skills and abilities and they care about them once they get there.”
The district’s permanent tax rate was established more than three decades ago, and Oregon law prohibits the district from charging fees for emergency response. That makes the local option levy the primary mechanism for funding operational expenses beyond the permanent rate, according to district officials. All revenue raised would remain under local control, overseen by the district’s citizen budget committee and elected board of directors.
Ferguson also noted that a declining volunteer base is adding pressure to the district’s staffing model.
“Our ability to take volunteers is huge and that continues to dwindle,” he said. “Those numbers get smaller and smaller every year, which is really affecting how we have to operate.”
Philomath Fire and Rescue plans to hold open houses and speak at community meetings in the weeks leading up to the May 19 election.