After its last proposed tax levy increase failed to be approved by voters by a slim margin earlier this year, the California Rural Fire Protection District will again appear on the ballot in the Nov. 3 election.
Voters will again decide whether to approve the first tax increase in the more than 20-year history of the fire district.
The failed measure from June's election asked voters to approve a 60-cent increase, which would bring the total levy to 80 cents.
This time around, the CRFPD is halving what it is asking for, requesting a 30-cent increase that would bring the total levy to 50 cents, hoping to garner slightly more support from voters in the pursuit of securing crucial funding to update equipment.
Last time it was taken to a vote, the measure failed by a narrow margin, with just 16 of the 708 votes cast being the difference between its passage.
The district's current 20-cent tax levy has remained the same since it became a fire district in 1998. Previously known as the California Rural Fire Department, it was first supported by an annual fee before it expanded into a fire district with stations in California, McGirk, Clarksburg and Kliever that today serves 2,465 residents in Moniteau County.
CRFPD Chief Shawn Merrill said feedback from voters in after the June election indicated they didn't like how high the originally proposed increase was.
Merrill said making this compromise means dropping some things the district wanted to do with an increased budget, but the amended levy increase will still allow it to take care of some much-needed purchases - truck rentals and updated life-saving equipment and training.
"We just want to help our customers as best as we can, and right now we're doing everything we can with the equipment and training that we have," he said.
Merrill said the district has been trying to spread the word by going door to door and advertising the ballot measure once again.
"We've just got to keep working and trying to get something a little more," Merrill said. "Hopefully that'll better serve the community."