A last-minute attempt to halt the consolidation of Shoshone County’s two fire districts failed, making the merger official Monday.

The newly formed Silver Valley Fire Rescue was approved by both districts early last month, triggering a 30-day window for residents to file a petition of objection. Under Idaho law, a public vote on a proposed fire district consolidation can be forced if a petition is signed by at least 25% of qualified electors within one of the districts.

It remains unclear how many signatures were collected, but SVFR Chief Scott Dietrich estimated about 1,200 were needed. Shoshone County Elections Clerk Savanna Willer confirmed there were not enough signatures from Shoshone County voters, and the number of signatures from Kootenai County voters is unknown.

Because the petition was not submitted to the fire district as required, SVFR’s legal team advised the former district boards to proceed with finalizing the merger and determining the composition of the new board.

“After the boards determined that the petition did not fulfill the statute requirements outlined in House Bill 208, they both voted unanimously to proceed with the consolidation of the districts,” Dietrich said.

The board elected Sam Gibbons as chairman. Current board members John Specht, Tyler Carrico, Dennis O’Brien, Mike Pierce and Jeff Passer will continue serving until the May election, when voters will elect representatives for five newly created subdistricts.

The subdistricts, based on ZIP codes, are:

• Subdistrict 1: Silverton (83867) and Wallace (83873)

• Subdistrict 2: Osburn (83849)

• Subdistrict 3: Kellogg/Wardner (83837)

• Subdistrict 4: Pinehurst (83850) and Smelterville (83868)

• Subdistrict 5: Medimont (83842), Cataldo (83810) and Kingston (83839)

Opposition to the merger came primarily from residents in District 2, on Shoshone County’s west end, where residents will see a 9% increase in their annual levy rate. District 1 residents will see a 13% decrease.

Many opponents mistakenly believed the consolidation would raise taxes by 9%, which fueled the petition effort.

Gibbons addressed the confusion on social media.

“The petition states that this consolidation will raise property taxes for folks that live in District 2 by 9%. Actually, this will not raise property taxes by 9%. It will raise property taxes for folks that live in District 2 by .9%,” he said.

He clarified the impact on homeowners:

“You're confusing the tax increase with the levy rate,” Gibbons said. “The levy rate will go up 8.6%. A $100,000 home in Kellogg will see an $8.65 annual increase. A $350,000 home will see a $30.27 increase. A $500,000 home will see a $43.25 increase.”