Putting Our (Fire) House In Order
Mar. 26, 2008
An important community discussion has commenced about the assessment of a new property tax to provide additional paramedic coverage to the Moapa Valley Fire District. This discussion began on March 12 with a Clark County Fire Department (CCFD) presentation to the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board Meeting and it will continue in future community meetings. One possibility, as suggested by officials of the CCFD, would institute a tax of nine cents per $100 of assessed property value. This would raise the MV Fire District’s annual revenues by over $340,000 and bring its total annual revenues to about $1 million. Not a kingly budget to be sure; especially when talking about fire protection. Still it is a million dollars in locally generated tax revenues dedicated to local use. As such it seems a significant enough sum that it merits some thought and discussion about just who will be, and who should be, holding the checkbook when it comes time to spend it.
The Moapa Valley Fire District was established in December of 1965 under the Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 474. The original county ordinance establishing the District made the County Commissioners the ex-officio fire commissioners of the district. The County Commission was charged to manage and conduct all of the business and affairs of the District. Thus, it is the County Commission that ultimately holds the MV Fire District checkbook today. The Commission subsequently has handed the day to day management of the Fire District’s affairs over to the CCFD.
With the explosive growth of Las Vegas, the local fire board has more and more lost its relevance in the management of the MV Fire District. The Fire District board is not an elected board. It is currently made up of five members including one member of each Town Board (whichever ones step forward willing to attend) and the chief from each of the three local fire houses (which are selected by the handful of volunteers in each department). Thus, the board members have no real legal standing as an authoritative board. Though they meet regularly and strive valiantly to fulfill their obligation to the community, they are really no more than a group of concerned residents getting together to talk about fire protection. One might claim that they act in an advisory capacity to the CCFD; except that their advice seems to be rarely, if ever, given much weight.
This arrangement undoubtedly worked well back in 1965; probably for many years afterward as well. But during the last two decades the rural areas have become increasingly underserved. The unique needs of the Moapa Valley Fire District have been lumped in with all the complex problems and operations of the urban areas and have then been approached in a one-size-fits-all manner. The local fire board has repeatedly gone to bat with the CCFD to try to better meet our unique rural needs. But the repeated requests of these few rural residents have all too seldom been heard over the deafening roar of the seeming infinity of urban issues demanding CCFD attention.
For many years, the important material facts about Fire District finances have not even been made available to these local board members. The District bylaws clearly state that quarterly financial reports showing current revenues, a specific list of expenditures and cash reserve balances be presented for the local board’s review. While these reports have been oft requested by local board members, they have not been provided to them in many years. In fact, it was something of a revelation when CCFD officials presented the general revenue and expenditure numbers to the Moapa Valley Town Board at its March 12 meeting. This was more than the Fire Board members remember ever seeing previously. But, even then, there was no detailed accounting offered of exactly how, and upon what, the District revenues have been spent.
Given all of this, we might be wise to first secure some kind of local control over Fire District revenues before we jump headlong into the efforts of taxing ourselves further. We should look carefully at whether local revenues, with or without a tax increase, will provide the level of fire and emergency services our community needs and what level of continuing support we may need from CCFD. At the very least, we should first, before tax increases, be assured of a strong local voice in where and how these revenues are spent. There is a way to do this which is spelled out in NRS 474.535. This section allows for a district, being governed (like ours) by the County Commissioners, to be reorganized into an entity which is governed and managed by a duly elected local board. Once this reorganization takes place, the local board takes over full control of all the business and affairs of the District from adopting rules and regulations for community fire protection to making and executing contracts for services. In short, the local board would take back full control of the District’s checkbook.
According to the statute, all that is needed for this reorganization to take place is a resolution of the same to be passed by the Board of County Commissioners. Well, that sounds simple enough. The county should be happy to be rid of yet another rural group complaining about being underserved; and the Moapa Valley gains local control and ends up with no one to complain about but ourselves. Everyone is happy.
So, before we go running to approve an additional tax; before throwing more locally generated revenue into the county vacuum; we should be working to get our own house in order. We should first request and insist upon a full accounting from CCFD of past revenue and Fire District expenditures. Then we should concentrate our efforts on requesting the County Commission to reorganize the Fire District, establish a legitimate and elected local board and give control of the checkbook to the District where it rightfully belongs. Then the new and independent Moapa Valley Fire District can make a local decision whether a new property tax assessment is needed and how much it should be. If and when that decision is made, those local revenues can then be spent and managed at the local level according to our uniquely local needs.
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