Voters back IL fire tax district

Voters in Indian Land Fire District overwhelmingly approved a proposed fire protection district in a non-binding advisory referendum Jan. 18.
The vote was 1,187 in favor of the fire protection district to 86 against. A total of 1,273 Indian Land Fire District residents voted in the referendum.
The district is intended to support the Indian Land Volunteer Fire Department through a $75 annual fee assessed on homes in the Indian Land Fire District. Businesses and other users would be assessed at $75 per 2,500 square feet.
As a non-binding referendum, the vote was called to help Lancaster County Council members gauge the community’s support for the proposed district.
Indian Land Action Council Secretary Jan Tacy, who helped the group spearhead the proposal, said she was pleased with the results.
“I think it shows what a community can do when they get together and work together for a common cause – something that is for the betterment of the community,” Tacy said.
“Now we’ve got to get the fire commission set up, get all the mechanisms in place and get about the business of setting up a fire district,” she said.
According to the Lancaster County Voter Registration Office, the precinct with the largest numbers of voters was Belair, with 954 voting in favor of the referendum and 26 against. This precinct includes Sun City Carolina Lakes, which turned out a large bloc of voters by itself. Sun City, Belair and Edenmoor residents now pay a special fire tax of $90 annually.
If the ordinance is approved, the special tax districts in Sun City, Belair and Edenmoor would be rescinded and absorbed into the new district.
“Out of those 954 (voting for at the Belair poll), I’d estimate 900 were from Sun City,” Voter Registration Office Director Cassie Stump said.
Even during the vote, those who opposed the measure seemed resigned to the fact that Sun City voters would carry the referendum.
Mack McDonald, a lifelong Indian Land resident and 35-year veteran of the Indian Land Fire Volunteer Department, said he had no problem with helping the department and doesn’t begrudge its benefiting from the district fees.
Still, he doesn’t care for the idea, saying the fee will create a burden on many middle- and lower-income Indian Land residents.
More than anything, McDonald said he didn’t like the politics of the proposal.
“There’s 18 other fire departments in Lancaster County that don’t have these districts,” McDonald said. “People in Sun City moved here for lower taxes and now they want everybody else’s taxes to go up.
“And all the benefits go to the county. It’s 100 percent the principal of the matter,” he said. “If it was a countywide ordinance, then that would be OK.”
17 percent turnout
Turnout at other precincts paled in comparison to Belair.
According to the Voter Registration Office:
• Residents of the Belair II precinct voted 141 in favor of the referendum versus 35 against. Belair II includes the Edenmoor and Belair neighborhoods.
• Residents of the Van Wyck  precinct voted 15 in favor of the referendum versus three against.
• Pleasant Valley II precinct was the only precinct in which referendum foes prevailed, voting 14 against and eight for the district.
• Absentee voters ap-proved the referendum, 69 to eight.
About 17 percent of the district’s about 7,500 voters turned out.
Stump said the turnout was good for a special election.
“If you get any kind of turnout, if it’s not a general election, then you’re lucky,” Stump said. “We usually don’t even get much of a turnout for the primaries.”
From here, the proposal for the fire district goes back to County Council, which approved first reading of the ordinance earlier this month.
County Councilman Larry McCullough said he was impressed with the turnout and congratulated Tacy and other ILAC members for all the hard work they’ve done in their efforts to make the district a reality.
McCullough said he and other council members look favorably on the Indian Land Fire Protection District’s creation, in part because of the success of a similar district in Pleasant Valley and the possibility that it and the Indian Land district could serve as countywide models.
The Pleasant Valley Fire Protection District went into effect in 2005, producing about $200,000 in revenue for the Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Department the first year, department board member Jane Tanner said. This year, the department will open its new station and the district is projected to bring in about $385,000, she said.
“We’ve had success with the Pleasant Valley district and a non-binding referendum with results that were overwhelming,” McCullough said. “And we’ve already had two meetings with lots of very good discussions and dialogue.
“With those inputs and all the telephone calls I’ve received and all the discussions ... I feel very positive that it (the fire district ordinance) will proceed to the point where it will be approved.”
Council was to meet Tuesday, Jan. 25, to hear the results of the referendum, hold a public hearing on the matter and vote on second reading of the ordinance.
Final reading of the ordinance is set for Tuesday, Feb. 1.

Aaron Morrison/staff photographer

Voters stand in line at the Belair precinct poll at Indian Land High School during the Jan. 18 advisory referendum on creating a new tax district to support the Indian Land Volunteer Fire Department. Voters overwhelmingly said yes, with 93 percent favoring the idea.

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Aaron Morrison/photographer

Poll worker Grayland Lowry assists Sue Cardillo of Sun City Carolina Lakes as she prepares to vote in the referendum.

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REECE Murphy/reporter

Indian Land Fire District voter Joanne Allison, an Edenmoor resident, prepares to vote in the Indian Land Fire Protection District referendum as Belair II precinct poll worker Mae Barber prepares the machine. “I’m for it,” Allison said. “I think we need better fire protection for the whole district.”

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Reece Murphy/reporter

Poll worker Mae Barber unlocks Legacy Park voter Jim McCorkle's voting machine during the Indian Land Fire Protection District referendum Jan. 18, as McCorkle's wife Leslie votes in the background.

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Reece Murphy/reporter

Belair II precinct poll workers Rudy Schmidt and Barbara Broussard check a voter's registration card during Jan. 18's Indian Land Fire Protection District referendum. Indian Land voters approved the district 1,187 to 86.

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