Rural fire board, city near contract agreement

The Whitefish Fire Service Area and the City of Whitefish appear to be nearing reaching agreement on a contract that would provide fire service to the rural area for the next five years.

Since spring, the rural board and the city have been negotiating a new contract for fire service for the area outside Whitefish city limits.

In a draft contract, released by the rural fire board recently the city would provide service through June 2026, but would allow the rural board to explore the possibility of creating its own volunteer fire department after June of 2024.

Dennis Oliver, member of the rural fire board, outlined key points in the contract he says the board expects to sign.

“We’re committed to a five year contract,” he said. “We also plan to set up a long range plan committee that will look at where we should be after that. We want to look at where we should be 20 years from now.”

Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith says the city and the rural board have reached a verbal agreement and both are reviewing the draft contract. She said if the board approves the contract, she expects to take it before City Council likely in January for a vote.

The fire contract outlines an increase in the payment schedule for the rural area with the first payment set at $314,189 and increasing until the final year of the contract with a payment of $367,557. This year, the rural area paid $299,272 to the city.

That works out to an increase of 4.9% in the first year of the contract and a 22.8% increase in the last year of the new contract, over the 2020 payment amount.

In March, the city sent a proposal to the rural board in negotiating a new contract seeking an increase in the district’s payment schedule for fire service to better match the number of responses to the rural area. The city at the time had been asking for an increase in payment of 31%.

Based on that initial proposal in May, the rural board sent out a letter to households in the district saying it was considering whether to renew its contract with the city or operate its own volunteer department. The chief sticking point for the board at the time seemed to be increasing the amount paid to the city.

Dozens of residents of the rural fire district have shown up at several of the rural board’s meetings resoundingly asking that the contract with the city be renewed rather than moving to a volunteer department. Many homeowners have said they’d be willing to pay an increase in their fire fee to keep service with the Whitefish Fire Department.

The rural board says under the draft contract they don’t expect there to be an increase in the fire service fee in the next five years. Currently, about 3,200 homes in the district pay $144 per year for fire service.

Oliver said the rural district isn’t ready to move to a volunteer fire department today, but it’s an option that should still be explored. He also noted that the rural board plans to look into whether to construct another fire hall in the district.

“If and when we do [move to a volunteer department], we will be better prepared,” Oliver said.