Skip to main content

Benton County Fire District 4 Plans Public Meetings for Lid Lift


Deputy Chief Carlyle Welcomes Invitations to Speak to Community Groups

Benton County Fire District 4 is hosting two public meetings to answer questions about its proposed Fire Levy lid lift. Ballots for the August 4 Primary Election will be mailed on July 17. Meetings are planned for July 16 and July 23 at 6:00 p.m.

Participants can call 571-748-4021 and enter the pass code 977-1116. Deputy Chief Paul Carlyle will provide an update about the ballot measure. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions after his brief presentation.

Deputy Chief Carlyle also welcomes opportunities to present about the lid lift to community service organizations and home owner association groups. Interested parties can contact him at (509) 967-2945 or pcarlyle@bcfd4.org to schedule a presentation.

“COVID-19 has limited our ability to see community members other than on emergency calls. We miss that personal connection,” said Deputy Chief Carlyle. “I’m learning a lot about virtual meetings, and hope people will invite us to make a presentation to their community groups or ask questions during our virtual meetings.”

Benton County Fire District 4 is asking voters to approve a Fire Levy lid lift of 15-cents per $1,000 of assessed property value during the August Primary. Funding would be used to hire three additional firefighters to respond to higher call volumes, which have increased 78.3 percent since 2010 (almost eight percent per year).

The lid lift would be an additional $3.75 per month (or $45 per year) for the owner of a $300,000 home, which is an average for the area. If approved by voters, the Fire Levy would return to $1.50/$1,000 from the current rate of $1.35. Voters last approved a Fire Levy rate of $1.50/$1,000 in 2015. Levy rates fall as property values rise to limit a fire district to roughly the same amount of revenue per year.

More information about the Fire Levy lid lift can be found on the Fire District’s website at www.bcfd4.org.

Popular posts from this blog

Another Clean Audit for Benton County Fire District 4

Benton County Fire District 4 passed its most recent financial and accountability audit by the Washington State Auditor’s Office. The Fire District is audited every three years to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements. “We welcome this scrutiny because it’s important our community knows that we are good stewards of their tax dollars,” said Fire Chief Paul Carlyle. Voters in the Fire District approved a bond in 2018 to build and equip a new fire station. That project is nearing completion, and the agency looks forward to welcoming community members to the new facility when it is safe to do so. Last fall, voters approved a fire levy lid lift to fund three additional full-time firefighters to respond to higher call volumes. Those positions have been filled as of February 1, 2021.  Benton County Fire District 4 has a long history of clean audits. The agency operates under a balanced budget and maintains adequate reserves. These strong financial...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chief Bill Whealan Retires from Benton County Fire District 4

February 8, 2021 marks the official retirement of Fire Chief Bill Whealan from Benton County Fire District 4. Chief Whealan’s fire service career spans almost four decades, the last nine years of which he served as Fire Chief for the agency that serves 20,000 people in the city of West Richland and its immediate unincorporated areas. Chief Whealan moved to Benton County in 2011 from Hemet, Calif. where he served as its Interim Fire Chief. In total, Chief Whealan has 25 years of his career in chief officer level positions in Nev., Calif., and Wash. He says that one of his greatest accomplishments during this time is not having any firefighter deaths or serious injuries under his watch. “That’s what this is about. Saving lives and property and bringing your people through each call safely,” said Chief Whealan. “There’s no greater accomplishment than that.” While at Benton 4, Chief Whealan increased the standards of medical evaluations for emergency personnel that were credited with s...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Station and Apparatus for Benton County Fire District 4

Voters approved bond to fund improvements to service in 2018 Benton County Fire District 4 will have its first new station in over tw enty years soon.  Station 430 at 8031 Keene Rd, West Richland is under construction and expected to be in service by early 2021.   Station 430 on Keene Road during construction (September 2020) Two Type 1 fire engines have also been ordered and are being manufactured. The engines are expected to be in operation by early 2021, as well.   Type I fire engine being built by Hughes Fire Equipment and Pierce In late 2018, voters in Benton County Fire District 4 approved a bond to build and equip the station as well as purchase replacement emergency apparatus. The new station will improve emergency response times district-wide, and provide additional units to respond during back-to-back calls. The two new fire engines will be placed into service throughout the fire district and help to equip Station 430. “We’re thankful for our commun...
Post a Comment
Read more