Voters will choose whether Palmer Lake Fire Department gets money to stay in town

A controversial town meeting in Palmer Lake that would have decided whether the city’s fire department merged with Tri-Lakes and Monument quickly shifted.

The city’s Board of Trustees started the meeting by announcing, “we are not merging with Tri-Lakes, not tonight, not this year.”

Without a merger, the Palmer Lake Fire Department quickly spoke up and said they need a mill levy increase. A mill levy is a tax rate put on homeowners, and by increasing them, more money can get funded to the department.

Currently, a mill levy is how the entire department is funded. Their annual budget for 2019 was predicted to be $347,247, but in order to get a new building and pay a competitive salary to their employees, the department said they need to triple that to about $1.2 million.

Paul Banta, a trustee member, explained that in Palmer Lake a mill equals about $42,000.

The Palmer Lake Fire Department currently receives funding from 10 mills every year.

Fire department representatives proposed a plan that would increase the mills to 28 per year.

After hours of back and forth commentary between the board and concerned residents in the crowd, it became clear that all parties wanted the same thing: to fund the fire department.

The board is moving forward with the proposal, but they are working against the clock.

The Palmer Lake City Attorney said they only have a few weeks to come up with ballot language before submitting it and making it sure it gets onto the 2019 ballot.

Both the fire department and board vowed to work every day until the deadline, hoping a resolution is near.