“What part of NO don’t they understand?

Voters in Lacey Fire District 3 appear to have sent a message to the Fire Commissioners.  Get your financial house in order.  While votes are still being counted, it looks like the commissioner’s effort to raise the property tax levy lid has failed, once again.   Needing only a 50 percent majority, the measure is hovering at the 48 percent approval margin.  Votes are still being counted but it doesn’t look like the property tax increase will pass.

However, it’s not the end.  Lacey Fire Commissioner Skip Houser has been quoted as saying the district would run the levy lid measure again, this time on the November ballot.

This is the time for that age old question “What part of NO don’t they understand.”

Financial mismanagement and unrestrained spending has put the fire district in a bind.  But giving them more money isn’t going to solve the problem.  The commissioners should immediately renegotiate pay raises with the fire fighters union, cut overtime, reduce the number of firefighters on duty at any one time and make other necessary cuts to bring some sense of financial responsibility back into the equation.

If the Fire District 3 Commissioners put the levy lid lift back on the November ballot, I’ll fill you in about the history of spending in the district.  Until then,  I’ll just wait and see if the commissioners got the message this time.