STAR, Idaho — Construction of a new fire station in Star, located at 9415 W. Floating Feather Rd, is complete, but the station sits idle without the necessary funding to staff firefighters.
With a $2.225 million levy once again on the upcoming ballot, fire officials are making efforts to educate the public on what will happen if voters reject the levy for the fourth time.
Watch to learn more about the budget levy increase.
"We need to do a levy increase. That's the only mechanism that we have to staff the new fire station," said Greg Timinsky, Fire Chief of The Middleton and Star Fire District.
Timinsky has been with the fire service for about 35 years and became fire chief in Star in 2013, witnessing the community's rapid growth firsthand.
Fire district leaders in Star say changes to state law have capped budget growth at 8% even as the city's population climbs as much as 22% a year.
"I think that that's a hard concept for people to understand, on 'how in the world could that happen. You're [building] so many houses in this community today. You should be making a ton of money'— but there is no way to make it with an 8% cap," Timinsky said.
The chief explained that the way property taxes are collected today is different than how they were collected in 2020.
"When you're growing at 15 to 22% and you're capped at 8%, growth does not pay for growth anymore," Timinsky explained.
Deputy Chief Matt Anderson says that gap is leading to more "level zero" moments when no local crews are available to respond to emergencies.
"Level 0 is kind of a term that's coined for when there's zero available resources in a certain area— you become level 0. That means there's nobody available," Anderson explained.
The consequences of these "level zero" moments aren't just theoretical for some Star residents.
Jean Wolford experienced firsthand what can happen when emergency response is delayed.
"I was in septic shock and we ended up having to go to [to the hospital]. My husband drove me to the hospital, and I had to go through triage in the front, and I couldn't walk in. I had to be taken in a wheelchair, and once they took my vitals, that's about all I remember. Until I woke up from emergency surgery," said Wolford. "I was in ICU for 5 days, and they kept asking me why I didn't call 911, and my answer was it was faster to drive."
Now Wolford is a strong advocate for the levy.
"I don't want to see somebody die while we wait. I don't want to see a child drown. You know, firefighters have to live with not being able to get to somebody in time just because we don't want to pay a little bit more for the services that we need right now," Wolford said.
Anderson, who has 25 years of fire service experience from out of state and has been with the district for almost 3 years, said level zero has become "a pretty common thing on the West End for us."
Anderson explained that House Bill 389 and recent legislation have significantly impacted fire districts' ability to grow alongside their communities.
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"House Bill 389 and the legislation that was put into place really kind of handcuffed any fire district's ability to grow with the community as they grow, and it's really impacting Star and Middleton," Anderson said.
This is the fourth time voters will see the proposed $2.225 million levy on the ballot. It would help fund 9 new firefighters for Star and 9 more for Middleton.
"Almost immediately, we would start recruiting and hiring, and training new firefighters," Anderson added.
Timinsky has held several community meetings to educate residents about the levy, though he acknowledges the challenge of reaching everyone in a rapidly growing community.
"There's a lot of people that have made up their own agenda based on where they came from— because that's what they knew, but a lot of people moved here from other states. Other states collect property tax differently than Idaho does," Timinsky explained.
Anderson emphasized the importance of these public outreach sessions.
"We just opened up to the public to give them information. It's not a 'vote yes, vote no' or anything like that," said Anderson. "We just try to openly address questions that we've heard."
Anderson, who has been a resident of Star or Middleton for about 2 years, said he loves working in his hometown but acknowledges the current challenges.
"I love working in my hometown and I love the community feeling that it gets, but these are just the challenges and the struggles that we're in right now, and I do see a bright future," Anderson said.
If the levy fails, Anderson warned that level-zero situations could become even more common. "I don't want to scare anybody. It is a trend that's going towards that, but yeah, level 0 is going to be something that is very, very common."
Without levy funding, Station 55 will remain empty, and leaders will have to consider whether to keep asking for voter approval or repurpose the building altogether.
Wolford encouraged residents to get educated about the levy's impact.
"It's really important to get out with Chief Timinsky, understand what the impact is really going to mean to our taxes," Wolford said. "Just get out and vote. Help us, help us take care of our neighbors and not let somebody have the worst case scenario, before we can make a difference," Wolford pleaded.
Residents with questions can contact the Star Middleton Fire District administration via their website, or via email.
Early voting is already open. You can also vote on Election Day, November 4.
