Fire vote could pave way for merger

   There's no proposal to merge fire departments on the ballot in Tuesday's Cimarron Hills election, but that's what voters essentially will decide.

   Voters will pick from 12 candidates for two open seats on the Cimarron Hills Fire Protection District board.

   The candidates are lined up in factions. One group favors an agreement signed in March with the Falcon Fire Protection District that calls for Falcon to provide administration, including a chief, in Cimarron Hills. They see it as a first step toward the departments merging, a move they say would save money and provide for better fire service.

   The other group views it as eroding independence for Cimarron Hills fire protection.

   "There were options out there that we could have looked at that might have worked just as well or better, and all those options were put to the side," said Tracy Stuehm, a candidate for one of the seats.

   The election could increase momentum for a merger with Falcon, or Cimarron Hills could revert to a high degree of independence, what some critics call a fiefdom.

   It's a conflict that's played out across the state as small fire districts struggle with rising costs and demands from the public.

   There's no avalanche of mergers among Colorado's roughly 400 fire agencies - just two or three each year, said Paul Cooke, executive director of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs Association. But that's an increase from 10 years ago, when the economy was stronger and more people worked as volunteers for their local fire departments.

   As volunteers and tax revenue declined in some areas, fire departments relied more heavily on neighboring agencies, and that led to discussions about combining operations.

   "Through consolidation, you can generally have more resources at the same or less cost," Cooke said. "In this day and age, we can't afford to duplicate resources or duplicate expenses."

   Cost savings, though, often come with a lost of local control, said Dan Qualman, chief of the Parker Fire Protection District. Qualman's district on April 24 merged many of its operations with the South Metro Fire Protection District. Together the districts cover an area nearly as large as Colorado Springs. He said a study projected the arrangement will save taxpayers $25 million to $60 million during the next decade.

   Other fire districts might be wise to consider merging with neighbors to save money and provide better service, but it's important to remember the pitfalls, Qualman said.

   "You can lose contact with the people you serve," he said. "That's been one of the things that we've made a prime focus, that we want to stay the hometown fire department even though we're the large provider. Bigger isn't necessarily better."

   Turf battles, ego, power trips and fights over money often come into play with merging two organizations, Qualman said. Those were factors in discussions about combining the Parker and South Metro districts, he said, but proponents prevailed by keeping a tight focus on what made sense financially.

   Those things are also at work in discussions about Cimarron Hills and Falcon fire districts. Candidates and others have traded charges during meetings of the Cimarron Hills district board and in Internet postings.

   Some conflicts are rooted in grudges that go back years or decades. But people on all sides said they want Cimarron Hills residents to hear all points of view and participate in the election.

   The immediate issue for many people is the agreement for Falcon to oversee administration of Cimarron Hills. The contract calls for Cimarron Hills to pay $6,000 per month, or $72,000 per year. The district's annual budget is about $1.5 million.

   "We can work well with Falcon. I have nothing against Falcon," said Leah Grissom, a firefighter in Cimarron Hills. "I just have an issue with the dollar amount we're paying them."

   Grissom and others said the money could go for Cimarron Hills to hire its own chief. Supporters of the deal say Cimarron Hills would pay more money to go it alone, noting the money also pays for a deputy chief and training officer.

   Absent further cooperation with the Falcon district, Cimarron Hills could find itself in a financial bind as costs go up, said Cimarron Hills board president Gayle Jones.

   Property taxes for the fire district in Cimarron Hills are about $177 annually on a $200,000 house. That's the second-highest tax rate among 23 fire districts in El Paso County.

   "Things have changed," Jones said. "We're not financially, we're not logistically in the same place that we were 20, 30 years ago."

THE ELECTION

Voters in the Cimarron Hills Fire Protection District may cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the district administration building, 1835 Tuskegee Place. To verify voter registration, contact the El Paso County Elections Office at 575-8683.