CANYON COUNTY, Idaho — Voters in Parma will decide whether to fund a $1 million levy for the Parma Rural Fire and Ambulance District in the primary election next month.
The proposed override levy will appear on the ballot for the third time on May 19. The measure has already been rejected twice, with margins as narrow as just a few dozen votes.
WATCH | Hear from the Parma Fire Chief on how the levy would help the district—
If passed, the levy would generate about $1 million annually for the district. Officials estimate it would cost homeowners about $98 dollars per $100,000 dollars of taxable property value each year.
Fire Chief Jeff Rodgers says the funding is critical to maintain staffing and keep emergency response times steady as the district faces shortages. Right now, firefighters in Parma start at about $11.75 an hour. If the proposed levy passes, wages would increase by roughly $6 an hour, which would help retain trained firefighters and reduce turnover
"So the biggest thing with the increase, it's going to help with the staff retention; we constantly lose people to the bigger, higher-paying departments," Rodgers said.
"From last year to this May, we've lost an additional five, which we've been able to replace with newer people, but that's going back training them," Rodgers said. "Putting all that money that we put into those people that we've lost, and partly the problem is we're getting busier."
Rodgers says staffing shortages are becoming more noticeable during busy shifts. With limited personnel on duty, multiple calls at once can stretch the department thin and impact response times across the district. He says if a second medical call comes in while the ambulance is already out of the district, there may be no response.
"Response times are gonna start increasing for our district. That's the thing we don't want to see happening," Rodgers said.
Rodgers says he is hopeful this third attempt will be successful, saying approval would help the 75-year-old agency keep up with rising call volume, maintain staffing, and protect response times for the community.
Voters will cast their ballots at the LDS church in Parma.
"We're hoping we can get, you know, a couple more extra people out to vote," Rodgers said.
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