Editor:
It is no secret that the Cortez Fire Protection District has a proposed mill-levy increase on this November’s ballot, but most people don’t know what the benefits will be if this proposal passes. As both a business operator and homeowner I know this mill-levy increase will affect me and my bank account, just as it would affect any other resident in the Cortez Fire Protection District.
With an average homeowner in Cortez being affected by less than $30 per year. As the president of the board I see how the increased revenue will benefit the community as a whole. Some of those benefits being improved safety equipment for the men and women who provide the service to our community and replacement of old equipment and apparatus.
I believe that if we can all take a step back and look at the benefit to the community as a whole, then we will see that this mill-levy increase is a positive thing.
The Cortez Fire Protection District has not received a mill-levy increase for approximately 20 years, yet the cost of operating as an emergency service agency has increased.
I strongly believe, as an organization, the Cortez Fire Protection District provides excellent and professional services to everyone within our community.
These services go well beyond responding to fires and medical calls. It includes being a positive influence within the community and in the schools.
Each of us deserves and expects quality service for the fees we pay regardless what it is for, and the fire district maintains a stance of providing that quality every day. I ask that we all take a step back and look at how we as a community can help ourselves and the Cortez Fire Protection District by supporting this mill-levy proposal.
Jim Bridgewater,
Cortez