The Kuna ID Fire District is requesting bond approval for the new station

The Kuna Village Fire District says sometimes firefighters don’t have enough to dispatch 911 calls.

Emergency calls have increased more than 72 percent in the past 10 years as the district’s population has grown to 34,000, the district said in a news release Wednesday. Emergency calls are reported to be repeated about 25% of the time, further stressing district staff.

The district, which covers all of Kuna and Ada County from Lake Hazel Road south to Kuna Mora Road, is no longer able to provide adequate safety services to its growing city and surrounding areas.

Fire Chief TJ Lawrence said the district, which has just five firefighters, needs six additional personnel and a new fire station in South Kuna.

Five firefighters respond to more than 2,000 calls a year, the district said. The district also has one fire station, while ideally a community has one fire station for every 10,000 people, the district said.

Therefore, the district will ask Kuna County voters in the Nov. 8 election to approve a $750,000 budget increase for new firefighters and a $6 million bond for a new station.

The district said the levy would result in an increase of $16.34 per $100,000 of taxable value based on current conditions. The bond results in a tax of $7.20 per $100,000 of taxable value per year.

In total, taxes and bonds would cost the owner of a $346,000 home $6.79 a month, or $81.45 a year, exempted from primary residences in the district. The $346,000 figure is the average for the region, the district said.

“This funding plan is the result of listening to our taxpayers, finding ways to improve these services and reduce the annual cost of paying them,” Lawrence said in a release..

The fire district invites the public to learn more about the tax increase and bond proposal. It will be open to members of the public at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26 and at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Fire Station 1 at 150 W. Boise St.

This story was originally published October 19, 2022 16:56.