GCFD 7 awarded grant, but anticipates budget shortfalls

SOAP LAKE — Grant County Fire District 7, based in Soap Lake, was awarded a four-year $590,000 federal grant for the recruitment and retention of volunteers. However, the district is also facing several budget shortfalls for 2024, said Fire Chief Chris Baker.

Baker announced the award during Wednesday’s regular Soap Lake City Council meeting.

“This grant will be used to hire a recruitment and retention coordinator, which will be full-time for the fire district for the next four years,” he said.

The grant will replace the sign for the fire station with a programmable LED sign meant to help disseminate emergency and recruitment information to the public, said Baker.

“I know you guys are disappointed that the old sign is going to be gone,” joked Baker.

The grant will also be used for social media advertising, a new website, marketing material, personal protective equipment for new recruits, leadership and career training, new member costs such as apparel or textbooks and more, said Baker.

The funding is a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the district’s Facebook page.

“It was a very competitive grant,” said Baker.

Despite this funding, GCFD 7 is still facing budget issues for next year.

“As you've seen, we've been working really hard to try to update our equipment, fix our facilities and increase our response capabilities,” said Baker. “With revising our 2023 budget, we're also preparing for the 2024 budget, and we have found a lot of shortfalls. A lot of the shortfalls are due to our aged facilities, our aged equipment…and we're trying to develop some strategies in order to overcome the shortfalls.”

Baker said the district had come up with three methods for making up the revenue.

“None of them will work just individually. We must have all three to be successful and ensure a continued response to the demands of the fire district,” he said.

The first method, Baker said, is through the district’s recent changes to their ambulance service. Since purchasing a second ambulance and dropping their contract ambulance service, the fire department has been able to respond to scenes faster, Baker said, and they also anticipate being able to bill insurance companies for more than $80,000.

“The delay comes from our program with Medicare and Medicaid,” said Baker. “Our application is still under review. There's no hiccups in it; it just takes some time. So we anticipate in the next 30 days that will be completed and we’ll be able to bill back up to 12 months.”

Baker said the second method for making up budget shortfalls will be active participation in the Washington Mutual Aid System.

“Going statewide on these mutual aid fires so we can provide the same service to those citizens as those other fire departments do to our citizens in our time of need, that also is a revenue generator,” said Baker. “We get paid for the equipment, we get paid for the personnel and we get an admin fee. Currently, we're not able to do that because our equipment just simply wouldn't make it there.”

Baker said the district is also still in the process of working up to the national standard for fire training, and that they also need more volunteers who can get support from their employers to go on mutual aid fire assignments.

The final method for increasing revenue will be through a tax levy lid lift on the November ballot, said Baker.

“Currently, we're at 57 cents per $1,000 of assessed value which is the least amount of any fire district in Grant County,” said Baker.

Since Grant County Fire District No. 7 is taxing less than the maximum in Washington state of $1.50 per $1000 of assessed value, the lid lift would increase the total levy amount collected, said Baker.

“Most fire districts in the state of Washington go after a tax levy lid lift every five to six years,” said Baker. “We've never done it. We are in need. Right now as it stands without replacing fire engines, just our facilities alone, we're at nearly a million dollars in repairs. Our Station Two, up in the Blue Lake area, doesn't even have running water, nor septic.”

Baker said this lid lift would increase the levy to $1.30, and that the district’s plan is to increase it by 6% over the following five years to get closer to the state’s maximum.

“We have to do it,” said Baker. “We've seen about a 66% increase in call volume. Part of that is because we've taken over our EMS response. But that has also come to an added value to you all because it's now taking approximately five minutes for us to get there.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android today.