Proposition Safety issue will return on Aug. 6 ballot

BLODGETT, Mo. — After Scott County Rural Fire Protection District’s Proposition Safety failed by just one vote in April, the issue will be put before voters again in August.

On April 2, a four-sevenths majority, or 57.14% approval was needed for passage. There were 278 “yes” votes, or 57.08% and 209 “no” votes or 42.92%. A vote total of 279 “yes” votes would have put the measure at 57.17% majority.

With Proposition Safety, the district seeks approval for a $1.65 million no-tax-rate increase general obligation bond issue to improve the district.

“This is not a tax increase, and the current tax rate will remain unchanged,” said Jeremy Perrien, fire chief of Scott County Rural Fire. 

Perrien said the district is seeking authorization of the issue to fund a new fire station.

The district currently has three fire stations: Blodgett, Vanduser and Morley.

According to Perrien, despite having three stations, when looking at a map and drawing a five-mile circle around each station, there is still a lot of open space.

Perrien said the district is also seeking the bond approval to furnish a new firehouse, repair existing facilities and purchase new apparatus and equipment to meet safety standards.

“Our fire district is one of the larger fire districts in the county and it extends as far south as Highway HH,” Perrien said. “The new fire station will be across from Scheffer’s Office Furniture and Business Machines on the south end of our district.”

Perrien said the district would also expand the Morley station to accommodate a living space for fire volunteers. Perrien explained that the Blodgett and Vandusers stations have living rooms and bedrooms, whereas the Morley stations do not and are in need of them. 

Perrien said having another fire station and housing near each station is critical during inclement weather and bad storms, as this is when the district will staff their stations.

Perrien wants the community to understand Proposition Safety. 

“We want to emphasize that Proposition Safety will not result in any higher taxes but only more efficient fire protection for our citizens of the Scott County Rural Fire Protection District,” Perrien said. 

Perrien said in previous years, the District ran bond issues to expand their fire district, improve response times and lower their Insurance Service, ISO, rating in order to reduce insurance rates, but those measures were not passed.

Perrien said looking at the bond, they are attempting to be good stewards of taxpayer funds.

“We are asking for the bond so we do it with a lower insurance rate,” Perrien said.

Perrien said these needs are more important than most people may realize.

“If it is passed, it really is a win-win situation,” Perrien explained. “It will not cost the citizens any additional taxes. As we will be using a portion of our current tax rate to pay the bond. A bond is funding provided upfront which will allow the construction of the new fire station, the updates to the current fire stations and the acquisition of apparatus for the new station.”

Perrien said new station means the district will have additional coverage and additional fire apparatus which will lower insurance rates for the entire district as the district is graded as a whole. 

“If the proposition doesn’t pass, we will have to go with traditional lending, which will cost more in terms of interest, and it will not allow the acquisition of apparatus for the new station, which means we will have to move apparatus around to have all stations equipped,” Perrien said. “But that would take away from our current stations which could potentially have negative impact on insurance rates.”

Perrien said overall, the ultimate goal is to shorten response times and lower insurance rates.

Perrien also encouraged the community to vote in the Aug. 6 election, pointing out that voter turnout was extremely low in the April election.