The third time was a charm for the Durango Fire Protection District.
Voters were presented with two ballot measures this year: One asked city residents to approve a 15-year contract for services, and another asked residents in the Animas and Hermosa Cliff districts to approve a single property tax that would replace the existing taxes and merge the two districts.
Results showed strong support for both measures.
“This is a good day,” said Emil Wanatka, president of the Durango Fire Protection District's board of directors. “It's really gratifying to see that everybody finally came together and there's going to be one board leading the organization.”
With a 37 percent voter turnout, 66 percent of votes counted in the Animas and Hermosa Cliff districts supported consolidating the jumbled district. And 84 percent of voters in Durango backed a plan to enter a 15-year contract with the district.
The double-win ends a long and storied effort to maintain and operate the cobbled-together district.
Durango Fire & Rescue Authority formed in 2002 by combining Durango Fire Department, Animas Fire Protection District, Hermosa Cliff Fire Protection District and an ambulance service.
But efforts to formally merge and manage the agencies as one entity have been a struggle ever since.
Voters approved a consolidation in 2006 by creating the Durango Fire Protection District, but they rejected a uniform property tax, meaning each district maintained separate funding mechanisms and independent boards of directors.
A second attempt to unify the district was defeated in 2011.
After that vote, the Animas district came close to ceding from the organization. It created uncertainty about the department's future, firefighters were unsure if they would have a stable job, and morale was low throughout the organization, Wanatka said.
The Rescue Authority had five boards of directors, two property taxes and received partial funding from a sales tax.
The consolidation leaves just the Durango Fire Protection District, governed by one board with seven members. Animas and Hermosa Cliff residents will be asked to formally dissolve their district, probably in January.
With the approval of Ballot Question 2A, the city will enter into a 15-year contract for fire and medical services. The city will pay an annual fee of about $2.85 million from sales-tax coffers in addition to $4.3 million paid during the life of the 15-year contract for a new fire station and the city's share to retire bond debt.
Proponents said consolidating the district will eliminate redundancy and allow for long-term planning, which has been nearly impossible.
“The community's positive vote today will allow for the dissolution of redundant government, the streamlining of finances, assuring its emergency services, allow for future long-term planning, and all without raising taxes,” Chief Dan Noonan wrote in a prepared statement.
Two vocal opponents – Animas residents Bud Deering and Tony Whittle – urged voters to reject the consolidation, saying it amounted to a tax increase for Animas residents because the district's mill levy was set to be reduced in 2014 after debt is retired.
They also said Animas is bringing more equipment and fire stations to the district.
When reached Tuesday, Deering said he stands by the arguments he laid out in an advertisement he placed in the Herald.
Noonan acknowledged there are some inequities, but he said mergers would never be accomplished if everyone was required to contribute the same value or equipment.
shane@durangoherald.com
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