On May 20, 2024, the Board of Directors for the Pinetop Fire District voted unanimously to call for a special election to seek voter approval to issue bonds for the purposes of building additional facilities, purchasing emergency equipment, and making other capital expenditures to improve fire and emergency coverage.  The decision was the culmination of several months of work consulting with bond experts, modeling response times, exploring financial impacts, and other research.  The $11.6 million proposal will now appear on the November 5, 2024, General Election Ballot as Proposition 437. 

Bonds are used by Fire Districts to finance large capital projects like public safety facilities.  The district sells bonds to investors to generate funding for the projects and then pays the investors back with interest over a period of time, in this case an expected repayment of 25 years.  The sale and issuance of such general obligation bonds must first be authorized by a majority of the qualified electors of the District at a special bond election called for such purposes before the district can proceed. The estimated average tax rate for the proposed bond authorization is $0.4163 per $100 of net assessed limited property value.

>>Click here to read the board resolution

>>Click here to read the press release

>>Click here to learn more about Fire Station 10

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why is the district considering a bond?
The District is considering a bond to provide the necessary local match for the wildland fire operations as well as expand coverage with Fire Station 10. Use of the bond proceeds for District purposes is expected to improve public safety while saving on planning and construction costs by developing a multi-use facility.

Why is the District sending the bond question to the voters?
Arizona law requires that bonds that are payable from District property taxes be voter approved. These bonds are commonly called "general obligation bonds." A general obligation bond is a contract between a bondholder, who, in effect, lends the District money and the District, which pledges to repay it. Repayment is by secondary property taxes levied on all taxable property in the District. Legally, the secondary property tax levy for repayment of the general obligation bonds is unlimited as to rate or amount.

How do general obligation bonds work?
If the bond question is approved by the voters, the bonds will be issued and sold periodically. Present and future residents’ property taxes will be used to repay the bonds over a period of time, usually 25 years, in the same manner that homeowners pay off a home mortgage over time. The bonds will be issued when funds are needed for a specific project or purpose, in the actual amount needed for such specific project or purpose, but the total amount of bonds issued may not exceed the amount approved by voters. In this case, $11,600,000. Money received from the issuance and sale of the bonds may only be used for the purposes specified in the bond question. Some of the costs may be paid from other District sources, including State and federal grants.

How is the bond expected to affect response times?
Fire Station 10 on the western boundary is expected to provide full coverage of the District’s service area to maintain timely emergency response times for all of our residents. The District recently developed a response times study that showed that placing emergency response capabilities in Station 10 is expected to reduce response times by 3 minutes and 33 seconds in portions of the District improving EMS and fire response to the residents served by this station.

How is the bond expected to affect fighting wildfires?
Due to the District bordering the Apache-Sitgreaves Forest and Fort Apache Indian Reservation Forest, District personnel are wildland certified and recertify annually. The District team has fought over 45 different wildfires annually and participates in a significant number of prescribed burns annually to reduce risks. This wildland fire response station would provide response capabilities for six full time employees and up to two dozen seasonal responders with the goal of providing a Type 2 Interagency Hand crew at this location.

How has the District been fiscally responsible?
The District has worked to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. The District did not increase the property tax rate last year and has been actively securing outside funding to support the ongoing efforts of the District including securing a grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for the purchase of extrication equipment and a federal grant to help pay for wildland fire fighting activities. The District is seeking additional grant funding for road improvements and other items to continue to reduce the cost and burden on the District taxpayers. The District consistently applies for wildland hazardous fuels reduction grants providing the homeowner an affordable option to reducing wildfire risk at their home.

As mentioned, some of the construction costs may be paid from other District sources, including State and federal grants. Recently, two Congressional Direct Spending Grants (Additional funding for Fire Station 10 and Pinetop Joint Roadway Improvement for Wildfire Evacuation Route) were selected and submitted to the appropriations committees to be reviewed in upcoming hearings. If these projects are selected and funded, it would reduce the need for local bond funding. If that were to happen, the district could choose to sell a lower amount of bonds – reducing the cost on the local taxpayer.

What has the District done to impact insurance ratings?
The District is actively working to improve insurance ratings which is expected to help reduce rates and costs for businesses and residents. An organization known as Insurance Services Office (or ISO) creates ratings for fire departments that calculate how well-equipped and prepared fire departments are to fight fires in their community. ISO ratings are from 1 to 10 where 1 is the best rating and a 10 is basically an indication of no fire protection. Through its mitigation efforts, work in wildland firefighting and training, as well as its strong partnership with the community, the District has been able to reduce its ISO fire rating to class 3.

How much will this proposal cost the taxpayers?
The proposed bond is projected to cost each residential household approximately $41.63 per year ($3.47 per month) for a home with an assessed value of $100,000.

The value for tax purposes is the limited property value of your property as it appears on your tax bill and does not necessarily represent the actual market value.

Voters can look up their home value on the Navajo County Assessor website and apply the costs above (and tax rate estimated herein) to their limited property value. Please also review "ESTIMATED TAXPAYER COST" herein to see the different costs for different property classifications and estimated values within those various property classifications.

ELECTION PROCESS

This election is consolidated with the federal, state, and county’s fall election cycle and will be a traditional, polling place (walk-in) election. The last day to register to vote in the November 5, 2024, General Election is October 8, 2024.

Any registered voters of the Pinetop Fire District who wish to receive a ballot through the mail must contact Navajo County Voter Registration at (800) 668-3867 or (928) 524-4192 to request an "early ballot" or request being added to the Active Early Voting List. Early voting begins October 8, 2024. The last day to request an early ballot to be mailed is October 25, 2024.

For this election, Pinetop Fire District voters may vote at
any of the following polling locations:

Arizona Game & Fish – 2878 E. White Mtn. Blvd., Lakeside, AZ
Pinetop-Lakeside Town Hall – 325 W. White Mtn. Blvd., Lakeside, AZ
Hon-Dah R.V. Park – 1 Hwy., Hon-Dah, AZ

Polling places will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on November 5, 2024.

In Navajo County, voters can vote at any location nearest them, to see a full list of voting locations please visit.
https://www.navajocountyaz.gov/534/Polling-Places

**Navajo County is pleased to announce a Ballot Tracking system. Voters will be able to sign up at https://trackmyballot.azsos.gov/voter/ and get updates on where their ballot is via text message, email, or a phone call from the system. For more information, please call Navajo County Election at 928-524-4062.