Vote yes for KP Fire levy lid lift

KEY PENINSULA Fire District 16 faces such a budget crunch that a fire engine is sitting outside its Key Center headquarters with a for sale sign in the window. Service and staffing levels will suffer, too, if voters continue to reject Proposition 1, which would increase the district’s levy rate to $1.09 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Fire Commissioner Allen Yanity misleads the public when he claims the fire district doesn’t have physical fitness or drug testing standards. It does.

What the levy lid lift is really about is safety. If Proposition 1 fails, the fire district will lose $780,000 annually in projected tax revenues, and — worse yet — response to residents in emergency situations could be severely delayed. Simply put: That can’t happen.

Vote yes.