Turnout may have been light, but voters who did participate in last Tuesday’s election overwhelmingly approved a five-year, half-cent sales tax to fund a new fire station and other capital improvements.

The proposition passed by a vote of 159-66, a nearly 71% approval rate.

“I have tried to think of some reasons why the participation was low but I have decided to put that behind me and appreciate the support we were shown by the 71% win,” Fire Chief Tony Stewart said.

“We all have a lot going on in our lives and are feeling the shadow lift from this pandemic and are looking forward to getting back into a comfortable groove.”

Stewart said he and his crew of firefighters, EMTs and paramedics have long outgrown the capacity of the nearly 50-year-old fire station.

Not only does the building not comfortably accommodate the six-men crews (an office has been repurposed for captain sleeping quarters and the men share a single toilet and shower in the bathroom), but the ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency equipment are housed at two separate locations, he said.

“We’ve made the best of it, but I’m glad enough voters are forward-thinking and recognized that we’ve got to update and expand our facilities,” Stewart said.

Local merchants will begin collecting the new sales tax Oct. 1, boosting the city’s total tax to 3.5%.

Per the terms of the resolution calling for the election, the extra half-cent will be restricted for the purposes of designing, building and furnishing a new fire station, with any excess utilized for street repair and other capital improvements.

City Manager Dave Slezickey said that even with the added half-cent, Kingfisher’s sales tax will be the lowest in a 21-municipality trade area.

Next Steps

While waiting for the tax to go into effect, commissioners and city staff have time to make decisions about the new station’s design and site selection, Slezickey said.

“We have time to assess, analyze and prepare viable options for the commission to review and decide,” he said.

Slezickey noted that commissioners and Stewart agreed that if the fire station has to be constructed on another site, that it be located on Main Street north of Will Rogers.

“I think we really like the current location, but don’t think we will come up with a feasible temporary solution for maintaining operations during the construction phase,” Slezickey said.

“Adding the costs of a temporary operations site during construction could make a new site more feasible.”

Slezickey said Stewart and the current fire department crew will have input in the design of the building, which ultimately will be subject to commission approval.

“We will take some road trips with firefighters to look at other stations in the area to see what they like and don’t like to get their input on needs and wants for the design,” he said.

“Our goal is to construct a building that will serve us now as well as accommodate anticipated growth for the next several decades,” he added.

Stewart echoed that thought.

“A couple of things that are a high priority for me concerning the new station is that we don’t grow out of it within 10 to 15 years – something that we have dealt with at our current location – and the other is technology,” the chief said.

“When I came to work in ’84, none of us knew that there would be internet right around the corner, much less high-speed internet.

“We had no idea that land lines would compete with bag phones and then flip phones followed by extremely-smarter-than-me phones.

“Technology within the EMS and fire service has changed greatly and I want to get the right input and guidance to make sure that the new facility can accommodate what’s coming next.”

Stewart said two other focuses of the fire department under his leadership – reducing ISO ratings and advanced firefighter and EMS training – will also be enhanced in a new facility.

“I’m hoping that the citizens have seen their insurance premiums lowered since we have moved from an ISO rating of 7, then to 5 and now to 3,” he said. “We are working hard to make a 2 reachable to further the savings for our citizens.

“We are constantly learning through in class training, online training, hands-on training and that’s after we have gone to school to get our license.

“We’ve been doing that with extremely limited space and limited access to computers or even quiet places for our crew to study or take online tests. We’re looking forward to having a facility where we can do all that.

“It’s time to move forward with the next chapter of the Kingfisher Fire Department.”