Funding issues lead West Kootenai Fire to seek district status

When West Kootenai Fire Protection Company’s main fire engine had a pump failure last fall, Fire Chief Thomas Lane knew he was treading in hot water.  

Repairing the pump cost between $25,000 to $30,000 — about $10,000 more than the fire engine was worth.   

“We were in a very sticky situation,” Lane said. 

The rural fire company is a private nonprofit based in West Kootenai, an unincorporated area less than 5 miles from the U.S.-Canada border. It’s served the northeast area of Lincoln County for more than 20 years and is entirely funded on donations and grant money.  

But annual revenue has fallen short of meeting operating costs as of late, said West Kootenai Fire Protection Board President Justin Burich. The fire company receives about $25,000 in donations annually but spends roughly $30,000 on operations. It slowly dips into its reserves each year just to keep the lights on, he said. 

Lincoln County commissioners helped the company purchase a $23,000 used fire engine last year from a fire department in Washington. However, they encouraged West Kootenai Fire to explore taxpayer funding options, since there won’t always be room in the county budget to help.  

This proved evident this year, when the county allocated a chunk of its budget to mopping up the aftermath of December’s disastrous floods. Rivers swelled from torrential rain and wiped out nine bridges and chunks of roads across the county. Burich speculated that, had the fire engine broken down a year later, the county’s hands would’ve been tied.  

The board of the West Kootenai Fire Protection Company is petitioning the county to become a fire district, which would funnel in additional revenue via property taxes. A public hearing over the petition is scheduled before Lincoln County commissioners on Aug. 19 at 10:30 a.m. 

THE PETITION process has been a bumpy ride for the rural fire service. 

A signed petition was turned in June 12, reviewed by county officials and approved by commissioners on June 24. But during a public hearing July 15, some residents raised speculation about the validity of the signatures. Not only did non-U.S. citizens sign it — since many Canadians own property within the district area — but Amish property owners who are not registered to vote in Montana signed it as well.  

State law requires a petition for a rural fire district to be signed by at least 40% of the property owners and represent at least 40% of the taxable property value. Burich said the board checked the signees’ addresses against the Montana property records and believed they were legitimate. Commission Chair Brent Teske said at the July 15 hearing county attorneys would address legal concerns over the petition prior to a vote.  

The signatures were reconfirmed as valid, but an internal review found the county failed to notify all registered voters of the public hearing. The petition process was reset July 27 and another public hearing was scheduled. 

If the area became a rural fire district, the West Kootenai Volunteer Fire Company would receive an estimated $30,000 a year from property taxes, covering most of the company’s operating expenses.  

Annual property taxes for homes valued at $100,000 would increase by $24.10; and taxes on homes valued at $600,000 would increase by $144.62. 

Aside from funding, property owners would also benefit from lower rates on home insurance premiums, said West Kootenai resident Judy Hall, who helped start West Kootenai Fire Protection Company in 2004. Most insurance companies don’t recognize nonprofit fire companies as an adequate fire service, she said.  

Before the company was formed, there was no fire protection service within the area. Judy and her husband, West Kootenai’s former Fire Chief Stuart Hall, chose a spot on an open plain with irrigation rights when they moved to the Rexford area in 2000, and fire-proofed their house.  

The next closest fire department is in Eureka, but its response area is restricted to the east bank of Lake Koocanusa, said Fire Chief Ron Komac. Response times to a structure fire in West Kootenai from Eureka, across the lake, average about 35 minutes on a good day, he said, with no traffic and fair road conditions. 

Home insurance premiums in rural areas are heavily based on physical distance from a fire department, Komac added. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the creation of a fire district resulted in lower insurance rates for homeowners — sometimes it’s difficult to get insurance at all.