Only a handful of residents turned out this week at a public hearing to discuss raising property taxes to support an ambulance service and full-time fire department in Farmington.
City residents will cast advisory votes on the issue in the Nov. 5 general election, and the City Council has promised to take the poll results into consideration during next spring's budget process.Less than 20 residents attended Wednesday's hearing in the Public Safety building, joined later by a dozen of the city's volunteer firefighters.
The South Davis Ambulance Association, operating through the South Davis Fire District, currently provides ambulance service for Farmington, using an ambulance based in Centerville's fire station.
The ambulance service is being overwhelmed by calls in south Davis County, Fire Chief Larry Gregory said, and is willing to give up its jurisdictional rights to Farm-ing-ton.
The service responded to 2,000 ambulance calls in Farmington in 1995, a figure it exceeded by September of this year and which has reached 2,200 so far, the chief said.
Response time from the Centerville station is six to eight minutes, he said, and if that ambulance is on a call and one has to come from West Bountiful the response time stretches to 10 to 12 minutes.
The chief's proposal is to staff the fire station with the equivalent of two full-time firefighters on a 24-hour basis, drawing from the current pool of 27 volunteers. The chief is the only full-time firefighter on the city's payroll, but some of the volunteers are paid for four-hour daily shifts.
The city would also provide a full-time ambulance service under the chief's proposal, with fees paying for part of the cost.
The city is willing to supplement the services from its general fund, Mayor Greg Bell explained, but about half the estimated annual cost - some $106,000 - will have to come from higher property taxes.
The city hasn't raised its property tax rate in 15 years, Bell said Wednesday, but is considering it at this point to offer residents new services.
The proposed tax increase will cost an owner of a $100,000 home $19.59 a year or $1.63 a month, according to city estimates, or $29.39 a year and $2.44 monthly for the owner of a $150,000 home.
Dan Anderson, who headed an eight-member citizens study committee that analyzed the issue, said he had no opinion on it before he began the study but now backs the proposal.
The committee looked into having the sheriff's department and Gold Cross, a private firm, provide the service and also studied a joint venture with Kaysville and Fruit Heights, Anderson said.
Their conclusion is the city's need is not being met and would not be adequately met by any alternative except its own ambulance service, Anderson said.
But committee member Richard Ellis disagreed, saying the tax hike will be hard on retirees in the city living on fixed incomes. They are losing ground to inflation, Ellis said, suggesting the city put off a decision for a couple years and see if it can finance the service without a tax hike.
Several supporters, however, pointed out the tax increase is small, comparing it to the cost of a couple hamburgers a month or a few pizzas.
"This is three, maybe four pizzas in a year," said firefighter Gary McCoy. "Let's have one less pizza party in a year and instead have a full-time fire department and ambulance service."