ELECTION DAY: Voters douse NOFD's funding proposal

No matter how you word it, voters in the North Okaloosa Fire District don’t favor a fire assessment increase.

For the third time in eight months, NOFD residents voted down against a fire tax increase proposal.

Tuesday’s vote was the most decisive margin yet. Eighty-nine percent of voters were against a funding proposal that would have raised the annual fire assessment from about $90 to about $220. The district said the increase was necessary to maintain its current level of services.

The final tally: 2,251 ‘no’ votes and 280 ‘yes’ votes. The referendum drew an 18.9 percent turnout

“All I can say is people have told us they don’t want to go forward with (NOFD plans) and we have to find a new solution, and we’ll start doing that at our next meeting,” NOFD treasurer Julie Slezia said.

NOFD funding proposals also failed in August in November. About 60 percent of voters were against the first two referendums.

The NOFD had hoped voters would respond favorably to a flat rate increase option. The first two referendums asked voters to approve a millage rate funding option.

The NOFD said before all three referendums that its ability to serve the district would be negatively impacted if the referendum failed, and that homeowners’ insurance rates could increase as a result.

Opponents of the measure said the district should find a way to operate within its current revenues.

“I’m happy the people turned it down,” said Harold LaFountain, a regular at the Supervisor of Elections office on election nights who showed up Tuesday with a particular interest in the NOFD referendum. He suggested more NOFD assistance from the county because the NOFD provides fire protection for Bob Sikes Airport, and that the NOFD should pursue a way to collect impact fees for new construction in the district.

Slezia said the fire district’s first priority is to maintain funding needed to keep the firefighters it hired with a federal SAFER grant in 2006. If the department cannot do so, it will be required to pay back the full amount of the grant.

The district consolidated some manpower and equipment at the new fire safety building at Bob Sikes Airport after the first two referendums in an effort to hold down expenses.

The district’s next monthly meeting is March 19 at 7 p.m. at the fire safety building at the Bob Sikes Airport.