Fire districts can't keep up with rise in calls, population without a statewide tax

When the worst happens and you dial 911 in search of emergency help, you need firefighters and paramedics to reach you as quickly as possible – because every minute matters. If you live or travel outside of larger cities like Phoenix or Tucson, emergency response times routinely take 30 minutes or more.

Why such prolonged waits for help? It’s because Arizona’s 144 fire districts are in serious crisis, battling a shortage of people, equipment and resources our state needs to address to keep residents and visitors safe.

Fortunately, you can help solve this public safety crisis on Election Day, by voting yes on Proposition 310 to protect Arizona families.

Referred to the ballot by a bipartisan coalition of legislative lawmakers, Proposition 310 seeks to speed up 911 response times by creating a temporary one-tenth-of-a-penny state sales tax mandated to go to fire districts.

You need fast responses while traveling

This new dedicated revenue – about $150 million a year – will provide a huge boost to Arizona fire districts, which have long been funded by property taxes capped in ways that have left these districts struggling.

Chief among the beneficiaries will be smaller districts like Tusayan, where residents help bear the cost of emergency services for 6 million visitors to the Grand Canyon each year, and the Hellsgate Fire District near Payson, which has seen layoffs decimate its staffing and response times over the past few years.

Of course, you don’t have to be among the 1.5 million Arizona residents who live in a fire district to depend on district firefighters for help and protection.

Another view: Proposition 310 is a tax hike with no accountability

Fire districts, often located along major highways and interstates, typically serve as first responders to vehicle crashes across the state – at a time when those crashes have soared, according to newly released statistics from the Federal Highway Administration.

Last year, more than 1,200 people died on Arizona roads, the highest number of fatalities since 2006. And rural roadways, where fire districts are often the only help available, are especially deadly: Over the last five years more than 2,000 travelers have died in Arizona’s rural areas, while another 30,000 have been injured.

Fire districts help respond to wildfires

Besides assisting drivers and passengers headed everywhere from Las Vegas to San Diego, Mexico to the Grand Canyon, fire districts also serve as the first line of defense against the wildfires that sweep the state every spring and summer. Those fires have claimed more than 2.2 million acres in our state over that same five-year period.

These crisis numbers will only continue to rise as Arizona adds population and as tourism rebounds after the pandemic. Proposition 310 provides a mechanism to fairly fund fire districts, and to ensure that smaller districts get the most help by capping funding available to larger districts.

To put the financial side of the equation into perspective, Proposition 310 will cost you a penny the next time you spend $10 to buy lunch. If you spend $100 on dinner for four, it will cost you a dime.

Groceries, gasoline and prescription, most of which aren’t subject to Arizona state sales tax, will remain exempt from the measure.

Your yes vote on Proposition 310 will tangibly improve public safety all across Arizona with minimal impact to household budgets. And it will provide fire districts – largely ignored by the federal government when it came to pandemic relief funding – with a way to cope with the surging fuel costs, higher equipment costs and higher insurance costs brought on by inflation. Most importantly, your “yes” vote will likely help save lives and property everywhere there’s a fire district in our state.

In this time of crisis, each Arizona voter has the opportunity to act as our first responders do when they face an emergency. Together, we can move toward the crisis and solve it, doing everything in our power to help those in need.

Bryan Jeffries is president of Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona. Reach him at bryanj@pffaz.org.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fire districts need a state tax to help keep up with emergency calls