About the Fire Levy

At last week’s city council meeting, Chief Lindsey of the Harrison Police shared a very detailed look at the condition of our emergency services, police, fire and EMS, and how it relates to the city’s budget.  While it’s a lot to digest, it’s worth the time to watch the replay of the meeting on ICRC once it gets posted.

Four years ago the voters of Harrison narrowly passed a fire services levy to address a shortfall as state funding was drastically cut.  This was a short term fix with the hope that the continuing growth in our city would eliminate the need for such a levy.  Things haven’t worked out the way they had hoped so expect a levy on your November ballot.

The good news is that it looks like this will be a renewal/replacement and not an increase.  It’s also a good sign that everyone on council is clear that this continues to be a temporary measure and a permanent solution must be found.  The thing is nearly half of council will soon be a lame duck.  This council election is crucial to our future –  We need elected leaders with the will to see this through.

I hate the gun-to-your-head, “pass this or we’ll cut services” nature of levies.  I’ll probably vote yes on a renewal but the cycle needs to end so that 5 years from now we’re not having this same conversation.  Our first responders deserve our thanks AND our support at the ballot box.  And the taxpayers of this city deserve a permanent solution, not a band-aid and a can kicked a little further down the road.