On April 6, 2021, voters are being asked to vote on a 1/6 th (.1667) percent sales tax for Creek County fire departments. The purpose of the sales tax increase is to distribute equal shares of the collection to all creek county fire departments that maintain status of member of good standing with Creek County Fire District Association. The collected sales tax will be used for maintenance and operations and capital outlay expenditures including apparatus acquisitions or upgrade and maintenance of existing apparatus, equipment, safety gear, operations training or expenses related to training, new building construction or improvements to existing facilities. Such sales tax will commence on July 1, 2021, and continue in perpetuity thereafter. The 15 departments that will collect equal shares if conditions are followed are Bristow, Depew, Drumright, Freedom Hill, Kiefer, Kellyville, Mannford, Milfay, Mounds, Oilton, Olive, Sapulpa, Shamrock, Silver City and Slick.
Charles Conkling, Bristow Fire Chief, says, “All fire departments are in need of PPE (personal protective equipment).” “It gets pretty expensive as it is around $4,000 per firefighter. If you have a surgeon who is a great surgeon, but without the tools he needs then he becomes a well trained observer. Therefore, if we don't have the tools to fight the fires, then we are just a well trained observer that can not do their job. It is possible there would come a time when we would not be able to respond to fires outside the city limits,” said Conkling.
Brett Lunsford, Drumright Fire Chief said, “Bunk out gear only has a 10 year life span. It would be a tremendous benefit for all 15 departments. The increase is about one penny for every $6.00 you spend.
Chad Blankenship, Kiefer Fire Chief said, “Our department operates on a very small outside the city limits than inside.”
Keith Weaver, Fire Chief of Shamrock said, “This increase would literally save the Shamrock Fire Department. We have very little income. After 14 years we have only approximately $20,000 to operate on. This would blow life back into the department again.”
The fire chief from Slick, Danny Christian said, “We will have better response time and better equipment in case of an emergency. We only get around $4,500 a year from the state to operate on.”
Kevin Smythe, Kellyville Fire Chief said, “Voluntarism is dying across the state. When you don't have anything to offer people to help fight the fires, then they tend to quit volunteering. There could come a time when there is no one to respond.”
After hearing different fire chiefs state their reasons for wanting this tax increase to take effect, it is understandable why there is a need for the increase. Each city must have good fire fighting teams and these teams must have the necessary equipment to help fight fires and to save lives.