Murphys, Ca — A proposal to raise property taxes in order to hire three fulltime firefighters was voted down by residents in the Murphys Fire Protection District.
59% of the voters approved, however, it needed at 2/3 majority. “We´re going to be forced to take a hard look at what direction we are going,” says district Fire Chief Steve Kovacs. “The unfortunate thing is that the community has basically told us that they are comfortable with us not necessarily being able to adequately respond with enough personnel to all the incidents we respond too.”
Kovacs says the need is still there, but how it will be addressed is yet to be determined. The Murphys Fire Department is made up of all volunteers. The proposal would have allowed for three full time employees to work rotating shifts, so that a first responder is at the station 24 hours a day. The vote was conducted via mail ballot.
Written by BJ Hansen
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 1:49 pm