Commissioners made right call rejecting NBVFD plan

On Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, the Boundary County commissioners held a public hearing to discuss and decide whether a new taxing district would go to the November ballot for North Bench Volunteer Fire Department.

The majority of the membership of North Bench voted not to pursue a taxing district over three town halls held by the North Bench Board, but the board pursued it regardless.

Often doing the right thing is hard because it involves accountability. For our county commissioners, they faced a choice about doing the right thing or doing the easy thing. The easy thing would have been to pass the buck on to the voters and put the taxing district decision on the ballot. The right thing was determining that the North Bench Board had simply not done the work required to get to the ballot. The right thing was acknowledging that the North Bench Board had unexplored options with their membership in properly funding and managing the fire department.

We congratulate the county commissioners on doing the right thing, even though it is hard, and applaud their accountability and unwillingness to simply pass the buck. This is what leadership looks like.

JON-PAUL MICKLE

Moyie Springs