This spring, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly will begin its budget process for the next fiscal year. One item that will be up for consideration is an increase in the mill rate for the Talkeetna Fire Service Area. KTNA’s Phillip Manning spoke with Talkeetna Fire Chief Eric Chappel and Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services Director Ken Barkley about the proposal and what it would mean for those inside the service area.
In the unincorporated areas of the Mat-Su Borough, fire departments are funded through service areas. Those service areas charge a mill rate that is added to a property owner’s annual taxes. This spring, the Talkeetna Fire Department is asking for an increase in its mill rate.
Talkeetna Fire Chief Eric Chappel says the rate would increase from just over two mills to just over three. He breaks down what that could mean for property owners in the service area.
“If you have a $120,000 house, you’re going to be spending about ten dollars more per month to ensure the trucks start and the crews have new, safe equipment that’s efficient.”
Chappel says one of the biggest challenges facing his department going forward is aging equipment. While Talkeetna Fire Department did purchase a new engine last year, some of its other trucks are showing their age. Two tenders, trucks that haul water to fires, are from the mid-1980s. This poses a few challenges. Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services Director Ken Barkley says the Caswell Fire Department dealt with one of the difficulties of older trucks last year, when replacement parts were literally nowhere to be found.
“We had to have a machinist in the Lower 48 make us the part, and it was out of service for eight months waiting for the parts to be made….At the end of the day, with the amount that we spent, we probably should have just mothballed the truck.”
Older trucks also pose a logistical problem in Alaska’s often harsh winters. Chief Chappel says buying new trucks as opposed to buying used or keeping old vehicles has benefits when firefighters respond to a winter call.
“When we buy these new trucks, we outfit them with an Arctic package, which includes insulation around all the pumping components and a heater for the pumping section of the truck so it can sit outside for an hour at twenty-five-below-zero and not freeze.”
Chappel says the Talkeetna Fire Department’s new engine was the only one able to respond to calls during the cold snap in December and January that saw temperatures regularly dip to thirty-degrees-below-zero. Newer vehicles are also more efficient. Chappel says the new engine uses considerably less water to put fires out, which can mean less water damage for homeowners.
Another benefit of new vehicles is less tangible. Communities are scored with a rating for fire safety. Insurance companies can consider that rating when calculating homeowners’ insurance rates. Trucks that are more than thirty years old don’t count toward that rating. Chappel says buying new trucks means more time they will count toward the rating.
In addition to new trucks, Chief Chappel plans to upgrade equipment and purchase new equipment for firefighters. Director Barkley says equipping a single firefighter can be quite pricey.
“Just to outfit a firefighter is about $2,000 right as they come in the door.”
Chief Chappel says he has been making the rounds at local community council meetings to solicit support for the mill rate increase. He says most of the feedback he has received so far has been positive. The decision will ultimately lie with the borough assembly when it deliberates on the budget later this year.
