Whitefish Fire Service Area’s contract with the city of Whitefish could be discontinued if the service area continues its trajectory toward a budget deficit. 

The service area’s current contract with the city is in place through 2036. This year the service area will pay the city $367,557. The payment increases by 4% annually. 

The service area currently has a $180 annual flat fee per home. Its $600,000 annual budget is equivalent to about 9.3 mills. For comparison, other nearby rural districts operate on 25 to 40 mills. 

While it is difficult to predict how many new homes will be built each year, the service area anticipates it will be in a budget deficit in three to four years if fees are not raised, according to Whitefish Fire Service Area Executive Director D.C. Haas.  

If a deficit is reached, the service area will default on its contract with the city. 

The service area is calling for increased fees to keep up with operations and to support six additional Whitefish Fire Department firefighters. 

Increased funds would also go toward remodeling the Hodgson Road station and buying land for a new station west of Whitefish.   

“We realize that we are not paying our fair share to the Whitefish Fire Department based on the number of calls they make into our service area,” Haas said. “We feel additional staffing would immediately help manage the increased call volume.” 

Whitefish Fire Chief Cole Hadley wrote in a letter provided to city councilors, “At present, our staffing model allows us to effectively manage one significant emergency incident at a time.”  

“When multiple emergencies occur simultaneously, we rely heavily on neighboring departments through mutual aid to maintain coverage within the service area. While mutual aid is an essential and valued part of the fire service, it is not a sustainable primary strategy as call volume and development continue to increase.” 

Whitefish City Manager Dana Meeker said at a council meeting last week, “The commissioners need to know that the day we are no longer paid to service [the rural area,] is the day we will no longer service it.” 

While the rural areas could still receive service through mutual aid from Whitefish Fire, calls from inside city limits would be prioritized because that is who is paying for it, Meeker explained.  

“I hope that I’m wrong, but I have a feeling that until the day comes that [the service area] cannot pay the city of Whitefish... the commissioners won’t do much,” Meeker said about the Flathead County Board of Commissioners. “Politics are politics, but the fact is, you’re talking about people's lives and the safety of their homes.” 

Councilors discussed sending a letter to commissioners requesting adequate funding.  

“The cost exceeds what [service area residents] are currently paying,” Councilor Steve Qunell said. “The Whitefish city taxpayer is in fact subsidizing that.” 

THE FEES for service area residents are set by Flathead County commissioners.  

This spring, Haas alongside service area board members asked the commissioners to consider fee increases that would raise their budget to $1.4 million. 

Initially, the plan called for either raising the flat fee from $180 annually to $420 or raising the fee based on property value.  

However, with advice from community members, the suggested fee structure has since evolved to a step plan.  

The proposed step plan would start at $180 and increase with the value of improvements on the property. The step plan will prevent lower-end properties from dropping well below $180 and keep higher-end property rates from soaring due to rising land values. 

The commissioners did not vote on the step plan fee increase this spring as they did not schedule a public hearing. 

“The commissioners ought to at least give us the courtesy of getting on the agenda,” fire service board member Dave Kauffman said at a meeting last week. “It’s up to the general to lead the charge, not pull the troops.” 

Challenges for the service area are rooted in public disagreement about the priorities for increased funding.  

The service area was quoted just over $1 million to update the Hodgson station, which currently can’t house firefighters overnight.  

Kauffman said that with Hodgson station, it is responsible to use existing resources and to provide service in a densely populated part of the service area.  

Some residents west of Whitefish disagree and want resources to go primarily toward new stations. 

“Sure, it will shave a few minutes off response times for those living in that area, but the service area continues to neglect the needs of people they serve in the west,” wrote resident Marshall Friedman in an April 2026 letter to the editor.  

Disagreements have also contributed to the service area’s failed petition to transition from a service area to a district, which would switch the funding system from a set fee to a mill levy determined by voters.  

The petition to make the switch launched in June 2025 and did not gather enough signatures from residents and has since been suspended.  

When the new Star Meadows Fire District was formed in a development west of Whitefish in December, it shifted the surveyance of the Whitefish service area, meaning the service area board would have to resurvey homes in the service area at an expense of tens of thousands of dollars to carry forth with the petition.  

Since developing the step plan for fee increases, board members feel it is a more palatable solution for taxpayers as compared to a mill levy, according to Kauffman.  

The board members last week also discussed marketing strategies to communicate the need for increased funding to the public.  

Input from a county commissioner prompted the board to consider employing a marketing firm – the same one that successfully aided Flathead County in passing the bond to build the new jail – but the board members could not reckon with the $25,000 price tag and tabled the meeting there.  

Editor Kelsey Evans can be reached at 406-862-3505 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.