Parker Padgett
·4 min read
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Fire officials are celebrating this week after voters passed tax issues for Monett Rural, Pierce City, and Logan-Rogersville fire protection districts.
“We had some people who said they’re going to vote no, and we understood completely why they didn’t want it. We had people that fully supported it,” Assistant Fire Chief Nicholas Mercer said. “There was a relief off our shoulders. You know, we had several big projects that the tax might be used for, so having that relief of now, we don’t have to do one project a year or wait several years to do a project.”
Mercer says firefighters are grateful.
“We really, really want to thank our citizens for allowing us to do this,” Mercer said.
Mercer says the money will applied to a litany of issues in Pierce City.
“It’s going to go to a new roof at our station, which leaks. The next one was for station three out in the village of Wentworth, they’re going to get a water supply for that station,” Mercer said. “We got two trucks that are over 30 years old that are front lined still that need to be replaced. Another component of the stats was daytime staffing four days a week.”
Monett Fire Chief Brandon Pennington sent OzarksFirst a statement in reaction to the vote, saying:
The Monett Rural Fire District is thrilled to announce that the voter turnout for the August 6th election was impressive, with a total of 878 voters participating.
The proposition received 499 YES votes and 379 NO votes (Lawrence Co) 135 YES & 95 No. (Barry Co) 364 YES & 284 NO.
Now that the tax levy has been passed, the fire district is committed to delivering on its promise to the taxpayers by initiating various projects to upgrade and replace its fleet and equipment, enhance local communications, and improve safety gear and training facilities.
The first major project is to secure 2-3 acres of land to build a new station #4 in Lawrence County, which will help lower ISO insurance ratings for homeowners and businesses.
The district will review and prioritize the listed items based on their significance and necessity for ensuring the safety of both the community and firefighters.
The Monett Rural Fire District is grateful for the support and trust placed in us. Thank you for voting YES and shaping the future of the Monett Rural Fire District. Your support means everything to us, and we will continue to serve our communities with pride and dedication.
Brandon Pennington
Richard Stirts, Logan-Rogersville’s Fire Chief says it was agonizing for new firefighters to watch the results trickle in.
“We had a watch party and people were very excited and a lot of hard work done by a lot of people, not only firefighters but our community and it’s exciting. We have a lot of room to grow in the next several years and it is exciting,” Stirts said. “You usually don’t know by 10:00, and for a lot of the new guys and people that’s got their heart and soul invested, it was agony for those guys to see those results come in (at) the pace that they came in.”
Stirts says he understands there were going to be people opposed to more taxes, even for the fire district.
“Taxes is a hard issue, and we still got to answer to people that have questions,” Stirts said. “There’s no problem in that.”
Looking forward, Stirts says once the board certifies the vote, they’ll look at assessing the district’s LAGERS program for current and future staff.
The incoming tax revenue is expected to add $1.6 million to the department’s budget for 2025.
“The number one priority is employee retention, which includes wages, benefits and new employees. We’re going to hire four new employees over a time, and the second priority would be phasing out some of our older equipment, our ladder truck from 2001,” Stirts said. “[We’d like to] remodel our station headquarters, where firefighters are also housed, along with the fire chiefs, and make it more accommodating and modern and to be able to help hold more people.
Stirts, like Pennington and Mercer, says they’re thankful for the support.
“Thanks everybody for having confidence in your fire district and the management staff and your board of directors,” Stirts said. “It’s been an honor to serve you and we appreciate the positive vote and positive reflection of what we’ve done for you.”
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