Proposition 2 supporters stressed at a Sunday rally that the need for more Fire Department funding is real, and that the issue isn't Transformation 2.0.
"This has nothing to do with Transformation," Jefferson City Fire Capt. Scott Spencer told a reporter before the rally at the Memorial Park pavilion. He was referring to the failed sales tax increase proposal that would have funded some 30 city projects.
Proposition 2 would raise around $41 million over 15 years, about the same amount that Transformation would have raised over 10 years. Some critics of the Fire Department's plan believe city officials would divert Jefferson City Fire Department funding to the Transformation projects.
Assistant Fire Chief Lonnie Brandt said that wouldn't happen.
"For those individuals that think this is some type of disguise or way to get around to the Transformation projects, it just simply isn't because there's just not millions of dollars in the Fire Department budget to divert to anything.