A survey of 500 city and rural residents around Bend suggests most voters would approve a levy to pay for more firefighter paramedics and reduce response times, according to Bend Fire Chief Larry Langston.

Langston wants a measure on the May ballot that would ask voters to approve a five-year local option levy of 20 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value. Based on the city’s current projections, the levy would raise an average of $2 million annually over five years. The fire department currently receives $1.18 per $1,000 in assessed property value from the city’s permanent tax rate of $2.80 per $1,000.

The survey, which was conducted via telephone by Portland-based DHM Research, suggested at least 60 percent of respondents would vote for the levy. Langston said he received the preliminary results two days ago.

“At this stage there is a very good indication that the community would support the levy,” Langston said. “We haven’t even done any public education or put out a voters’ pamphlet, so these numbers are very high.”

Langston has said that he believes the fire department could lower its response time to six minutes within the city by adding two more ambulance crews, a total of 14 employees to cover three shifts.

Currently, the fire department responds to emergency calls in the city within nine minutes 80 percent of the time. In rural areas, the response rate is 80 percent of calls within 12 minutes, according to newspaper archives.

Approving the levy would not result in residents paying higher property taxes, Langston said, thanks to the pending expiration of two county bonds from 1996 that are scheduled to expire in 2014. The county used a $14.4 million bond to build the public safety campus for the Sheriff’s Office. The tax levied to pay annual debt service is nearly 13 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value. The second expiring bond for the $8 million library bond charges property owners about 14 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value.

“This levy would be cost-neutral for taxpayers,” Langston said. “When people taking the survey learned that, the approval ratings increased.”

Langston said those who took the survey, which included 400 households within Bend city limits and 100 rural households, were asked at the beginning of the survey and again at the end of the survey if they would approve a 20-cent levy.

Toward the end of the survey, people were told passage of the levy would not result in an increase in the total property taxes they’re paying.

Sixty percent of respondents living within city limits said they’d vote to approve a 20-cent levy before they were told there would be no overall increase in their taxes. After learning taxes would not go up, 76 percent expressed approval. Rural resident approval increased from 60 to 62 percent between the two questions, Langston said.

Survey respondents indicated fast emergency response is critical, they said they wanted emergency service personnel to be well-trained and they wanted to make sure the fire department would use the money efficiently and wisely, Langston said.

“We need to increase the number of ambulances we have and add staff for those ambulances,” he said. “That is where the money would be spent.”

He said some local physicians have indicated their support for the levy because it would mean a faster response time on emergency calls.

There will be a work session before the Jan. 8 city council meeting at which a representative from BHM will present the survey and findings to council members. During the council meeting the councilors will be asked to consider a resolution to add the levy to the May ballot.

On Jan. 14, the board of the Deschutes County Rural Fire Protection District will hear the findings of the survey and decide whether or not to add the levy to the May ballot for rural voters.

—Reporter: 541-383-0376

sking@bendbulletin.com